


The Space Between Stars

by wordswithdragons



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, season two fix it fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2018-09-21 00:26:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 47,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9522857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordswithdragons/pseuds/wordswithdragons
Summary: Stranded across the galaxy, Shiro and Keith must survive the cold blooded creatures that lurk upon the planet they crash landed on. Pidge, Hunk and Lance find themselves caught up on a Galra infested planet of winged aliens, while Allura and Coran face coming to terms with their greatest hope and sorrow: Altea. // A rewriting, fix-it fic of Voltron from season one onwards, featuring families, backstories, aliens, loss, and love. More info inside.





	1. Across the Universe (I)

**Author's Note:**

> This is rewrite of season two which consists of basically taking the bulk of season two and tweaking most if not all of the elements and completely rewriting certain aspects of it. The last thing I want is for this fic to be a disappointment to those who, like me, were already disappointed with season 2 in many ways.
> 
> This fic is an attempt to write season two the way I would have done it, developing all the characters and their relationships in a way that is perhaps unrealistic to expect of a TV show, but I digress. Although I am developing all of the Voltron team (especially Lance and Hunk, since they got the least screen of the Paladins this season) there will be a heavier focus on Shiro and Allura than perhaps the rest given the sheer amount of unexplored potential between the two and the rest of the team in season two, however I hope to give everyone about the same amount of page time. I am still learning how to write everyone else, so if you have any tips for how to write a certain character/relationship, please let me know, I'd love to hear them.
> 
> I'll preface this by saying right now the fic will be more Shallura than Klance centric due to the narrative arc I'm developing, my comfort level with characterization, and personal preference. That being said, all relationships between all of the characters will be explored and developed, and none shall be romantic aside from the two previously mentioned.
> 
> Above all else, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it thus far, and I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Now, without further ado: go to 1x11 of Voltron: Legendary Defender, "The Black Paladin", and come back once you get to the end.

_THE SPACE BETWEEN STARS_

CHAPTER ONE: Across the Universe (I)

* * *

Allura had never felt so helpless in her entire life. Discounting the 10,000 years in the cryo-pod, she had never been forced to watch all her hopes shatter and spin madly out of control right before her eyes. The fall of Altea had been destruction but with a rising, desperate hope swelling in her chest. She and her father had the Lions; they could still win this.

They could still win this.

She forced herself not to yell as the Paladins fell into the current of the wormhole, washing over them ocean waves, tangling up their tails and heads, metal panes rattling as their screams echoed over the commlink. Shiro's, loud and raw, mingled with the pain of the injury Haggar had given him, was worst of all, ringing in her ears long after it had stopped and the blaring of the castle alarms took its place. Red lights flashed as the control panel blocked her at every opportunity.

"They've vanished in the temporal rift!" she cried, her panic getting the better of her for a moment. "The Lions are gone!"

"Let's check the rift-exiting positioning monitor," said Coran, his fingers flying across his keyboard as fast as her heart was pounding, "to see where this wormhole is taking us."

"Coran look! There appears to be something on the other end. We're heading right toward it." Her shoulders hunched over slightly when the next realization set in, bracing her legs to keep herself steady.

"Scanners show there's no exit. It's just nothingness. Find an exit before we run smack into the void."

"I can't. I've lost control of the Castle." Angry red signs blared up at her against Altean blue, and her heart sank. There was no way out.

"Brace yourself―we're about to hit it!"

Or was there?

Allura's gaze dropped to the pillars holding up the steering mechanism, and she dropped to her knees, the impact sending a painful shudder up the rest of her body. She ignored it, fingers scrabbling for the panelling covering the steering. Her nails found a crack and she wrenched the panel open, tossing the metal away and not caring to see where it landed. Buttons with Altean lettering stared back at her, dusty and almost covered in grime except for the faint blue pulse.

"Allura?" came Coran's confused voice.

She didn't look up as she pressed in a code, the one her father said would always work: her birthday. The keys glowed a pure white once she was done, and lettering flashed across the screen: System override. Manual steering activated.

She placed her palms back on the steering mechanism, and rolled the axis under her palm; the Castle made a sharp swerve, and for a moment, she dared let herself hope they'd join their Paladins somewhere, scattered across the universe.

Of course, she could never be that lucky. It was too late as the bow of the castle hit the spiralling current Haggar had conjured up, their side slamming into the void. She wielded her eyes shut as the very bones of the Castle shook, and prayed she wouldn't be like Hunk and throw up whatever was left in her stomach.

The Castle tilted and she nearly fell, as blinding darkness enveloped the Castle―her existence―and then, light.

* * *

Hunk landed first. His Lion dropped and rolled three times over, skidding to a halt and staying still for a moment, long enough for him to see he had come to the edge of a rocky cliff with a long drop below, once he got his bearings.

The Yellow Paladin to let out a well-deserved sigh of relief, before Lance and Pidge smashed into him, one after the other. The three Paladins screamed as their Lions dropped off the cliff into another chaotic fall.

"C'mon girl," Pidge hissed, yanking at her controls. The Green Lion didn't budge, tumbling ceaselessly through the sky, slamming into and then bouncing off a rocky ledge.

"Blue's not listening at all," said Lance.

They fell a good 10 feet, reminding Hunk all too much of the caverns in the Balmera, with the length of the fall, but this time it was all too easy to scream until his Lion crash-landed with a sickening crunch on cold, hard earth. His neck hit the back of his seat, and cringing from whip-lash, Hunk slowly unbuckled himself from his seat and made his out to his Lion's maw, stepping out onto the strange new planet they had landed on.

It didn't look all different from Earth, with flat, sand coloured rocks and cliffs and thin ledges. They hadn't landed in a cavern, and over the rolling, dry landscape, he could see a town glimmering in the distance made up of bright red buildings. The sun wasn't glaring, but the air was still humid and making the back of his neck turn sticky.

He turned away towards Blue as the Lion's mouth opened and Lance stumbled out. Hunk quickly caught him and his best friend gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks buddy."

He straightened up once Pidge joined them, cautiously taking off her helmet. Her hair turned poofier than usual in the humid air.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Dunno," said Hunk. "But there seems to be a town… The Lions seem too banged up, so I guess we should walk?"

Lance shrugged. "Guess so. Maybe we can get some help in repairing our Lions?"

Hunk glanced back at his. "I probably could if I had the parts, but honestly, I think they just need some time to rest."

"Does that mean we get to rest too?" Lance asked hopefully.

Pidge rolled her eyes. "No."

The Blue Paladin let out a whine, but followed his friends as they started over the small hill, and down towards the town. They crossed over a thin, drying stream that was more caked mud than water and flat plains of rock with some boulders lying around that had perhaps come off of the cliff decades ago.

They walked in silence, as there wasn't much to say. Talking about the grumbling of their stomachs would only make the hunger pains even worse, although Hunk wasn't sure that was entirely possible. Talking about what could have happened to the others was painful in a whole other way, since they had no clue. Hunk knew they were lucky to have wound up together―the Garrison trio, together again, just like they had been at the start of this adventure. He imagined what he would have done, already reluctant to sneak up to the roof, to break Shiro out of Garrison's clutches, if he had known what it would lead to. That it would lead to this.

Would he had have turned and run? Hunk didn't know. But he knew he wasn't running now. Zarkon had enslaved hundreds of thousands of planets just like the Balmera, just like Shay and her people. He had destroyed planets in the same way he had destroyed Altea.

They had to stop him. And they would somehow, Hunk thought, trying to think on the positive side for once. Once they got the team back together.

If they got the team back together. Who knew where the others were? They could be thousands of galaxies away.

At least he had Lance with him. He and Lance had hardly been apart since they met when they were eight years old, and he didn't know he would do without his best friend.

The sun set far faster than their progress, and it was a relief when the air turned cooler, cloaking them in night.

Until they saw bright yellow eyes―dozens of them, all in pairs, more popping up with every blink―glowing in the gloomy darkness.

"Um guys," said Lance nervously. "We've got company."

* * *

In hindsight, sitting slumped against a rock while his wound pulsed painfully with every breath, Shiro supposed it was nothing short of a miracle he had managed to haul himself out of the Black Lion in the first place. Then again, the fact he had survived this long was miraculous anyway. Or maybe that was too graceful a word for the brutality he had been forced to show back in the arena, the monster he had had to become to keep himself alive.

Do you really think a monster like you could be a Voltron Paladin?

Zarkon's connection with the Black Lion had overpowered his. Sendak had been right, Shiro realized dully. Pain overshadowed everything else. But if he was a monster, then wasn't Zarkon worse? What was the truth? Where was the line he still hadn't crossed?

Static crackled across his commlink, and then Keith's panicked voice, "Shiro? Shiro can you hear me?"

His temple throbbed as Shiro pushed himself into more of a sitting position. "Keith?" More static. "Keith I'm here. Where are you?"

There was a horrifying moment of ear-grating static, and then Keith's voice broke through the noise, sounding out of breath but not pained. "I don't know, not far I think. Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Takes a lot more than a glowing purple wound and a fall from the upper atmosphere crashing into a surface at what I guess is about 20 meters per second to get rid of me. How are you?" He could practically picture the flat, dry-eyed stare on the other side of the commlink, and sighed. "It looks like I'm in some kind of canyon, I'm a few ledges above from where my Lion crashed."

Keith's voice brightened, "I think I can get a reading on your Lion. Sit tight, Shiro, I'm coming."

"I can't exactly go anywhere," Shiro muttered under his breath, yet there was a sense of relief in knowing that not only was Keith unharmed, the kid wasn't alone―Shiro wasn't alone―and that they could figure things out together. He pried his hand away from his side, grimacing when he saw the purple gashes glow, like demonic claw marks.

He didn't know what that witch Haggar had done to him, but he hoped it was nothing the cryopods couldn't fix. Nothing could be worse than the hunk of Galra metal that was currently his arm, could it?

Then he heard the low growling, and his heart sank when he saw creatures with low slung bodies and sloping backs, scrunched up snouts sniffing over the Black Lion.

The universe just loved proving him wrong, didn't it?

"Actually, Keith," he spoke into the commlink, trying not to sound too urgent. The last thing he wanted was to make Keith freak out and lose his focus. The boy already had a problem with being patient after all, after charging into a one-on-one battle with Zarkon that was all too clear. "You better hurry."

Choking back a cough, Shiro forced himself to his feet. He'd be useless to the team if he was dead, and he had survived much worse than this, hadn't he? Faint memories told him he had in the arena, the loss of his arm, but they were fuzzy as best. Keith's panicked breathing (oh, great) crackled through the static lines of their commlink.

* * *

Pidge dove behind Lance as the aliens came into light: owlish eyes peered back at her, framed by long, almost feathery lashes. The rest of the aliens were garbed in thick brown feathers around their necks and elbows, the rest hidden by swaths of white cloth. The rest of their skin appeared to be smooth and unblemished, a deep rich brown. Tall, wide black or brown wings arched out their backs.

One with greying feathers and choppy black hair stepped forward, and let out a shrill, loud hoot, almost like a scream. "You! You're Paladins of Voltron! You must have seen our distress beacon!"

"Distress beacon?" Hunk repeated uncertainly.

Pidge emerged from behind Lance, her brow furrowing. "Wait, you know who we are?"

He let out a derisive snort, throwing out his arms in a gesture towards the aliens. "Don't be stupid Pidge, of course they know who we are! I'm Lance, the Blue Paladin, and currently looking for a Mrs. Blue if―" Pidge elbowed him in the stomach. "Ow!"

Hunk took a step forward. "The Galra are here?"

"In our atmosphere, yes. They have not landed but it is only a matter of time, and our greatest warriors we're all captured, except for one. I am Adelina, the Chief of the Winged Ones. The Blue Paladin is Lance. Who are you, strong one?"

He placed a hand on his chest. "I'm Hunk, and this is Pidge. We were separated from the rest of the Paladins, our Lions are recuperating now―that's actually why we came here, to see if―" The word help got lodged in his throat when he saw the desperate hope shining in the Winged Ones eyes. "If we could start helping you with this problem, I mean, we knew you had some kind of problem, and―"

"Oh, thank you Paladins. Let us take you to our village, we can offer you hospitality, and whatever you need to beat the Galra!"

Hunk, Pidge and Lance exchanged wide, uneasy smiles once Adelina's back was turned, leading them and the rest of her squadron back towards their home. Up close, the town looked quite different, with tall buildings and hardly any stairs, glittering lights among the yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. Birds that resembled owls with rainbow coloured feathers were perched on every window sill and building top, with specially made bird houses for them.

The rest of the Winged Ones dispersed, sans Adelina, who never strayed from her path as she led them further into the town. Faces peered down from tall buildings, a slight warm breeze picking up in the air around them and from the beat of their wings. Something that smelled like veggie stew wafted from the open windows of almost every building, and Pidge's stomach gurgled; she hadn't realized quite how hungry she was until that very moment.

"Our greatest warrior will see you now," said Adelina, stopping in front of an open roof hut with a canopy strewn over as a makeshift ceiling. There was a blue curtain draped over the doorway. "Once you're finished speaking, we'll arrange for some nourishment."

"Are ya sure that nourishment will be edible?" Lance whispered to Hunk.

Before he could respond, Pidge said, "Let's go meet this warrior person. Maybe they can help us." And she moved past the two boys and pushed away the curtain, Lance and Hunk flanking her as they entered the hut.

It was dimly lit with candles framing the circular shape, along the edges of the wall. Sitting in the centre of a room was a woman with short, choppy black hair that curled around her chin, and wide, arching black wings―the biggest ones Pidge had seen so far―the tips brushing the ceiling.

"We were sent by your Chief," said Lance. "Um, you are the greatest warrior right?"

The wings stirred as the woman got to her feet, golden eyes against rich warm skin when she turned around to face them. Her eyes were so intense―burning and defiant and angry―it almost made Pidge take a step back into Hunk's stomach.

"My name is Elyta." Her voice was as sharp as the knife clipped to her side, the blade running along to her knee. Another sword in its scabbard was resting on her other hip. "The Galra took my family. We are going to get them back."

* * *

The Castle of Lions shuddered and stopped, upturning some sort of heavy substance. Allura tightly gripped the pillars of the steering mechanism to keep from being thrown into the wall, the metal bending under her tight grip. Coran had fallen out of his chair but seemed unharmed as red lights flashed, and then the power went dead, enveloping them in blurry darkness.

She coughed into her arm, tentatively raising her head and squinting in the dark. The markings next to her eyes glowed. "C-Coran?"

"I'm alright princess," he wheezed, somewhere underneath a circuit board. "Are you―"

"We've stopped, somewhere," said Allura, looking at the windows. One had a large fracture running down the middle, and half of the windows were smeared with mud. Slivers of bright lilac peeked through the grime. "Somewhere with a lilac sky―?" It looked familiar, that shade of purple. A lump formed in her throat. Painfully familiar.

"Seems like it." Coran pulled himself to his feet. "Hopefully there's civilization nearby, we'll have to fix parts of the Castle." He staggered over to her and helped her to her feet, and they stumbled to the door together, leaning on each other.

Allura stepped away from him when the door didn't automatically open for them, and ripped the door apart with her bare hands, folding each metal piece in half and tossing them in front of her. They banged off the walls as she and Coran stepped into the hallways, before going still, and she gave each door the same treatment until they were at the exit of the Castle. The elevator wouldn't lower, but the Castle had landed on its side, so she was confident they could both make the jump with perhaps a bit of shapeshifting and extra height.

Her knees nearly buckled when her feet hit the dirt, feeling a little dizzy. Spending three days in a Galra prison with no food or water and then engaging in a space battle probably wasn't the best idea, but she didn't have much of a choice these days. Closing her eyes and waiting for her head to stop spinning, Allura let herself shrink back to her original height.

Coran landed neatly beside her and did the same thing. "Well, let's see where we are, shall we? We'll need some help getting the Castle aligned properly with the engines."

The Castle was endurable, but with half of it caked in mud and one engine fizzing in a watery puddle of mud, it wasn't going anywhere until they got it straightened out and standing tall for takeoff.

As for where they were...

The mud gave way to a water-logged grassy meadow, which stretched for miles and miles with the lilac sky and sun casting a warm glow. Rocks the size of hail were in clusters along the riverbed and everywhere else, slowly sinking into the mud. Beyond the meadow were tall buildings made of cream coloured marble, too far away to really make out. Just below, at the tip of Allura's vision, the very edges of the meadow miles away, were dots of pink, hundreds of them, bleeding into each other.

"Are those..." She staggered closer, gulping down a breath of fresh air."Are those juniberries?" If she was right―stars above, how could she be right? How was this possible? The mud under her shoes was real, the crash was real, but this...this couldn't be real. Everything ached.

Coran turned in a circle, staring wide eyed at everything before tears started spilling down his cheeks. "Allura. I think we're on Altea."


	2. Across the Universe (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding themselves on Altea a day before it falls, Allura and Coran attempt to navigate how much they should change history, and how to get back to the present… if they even want to. Shiro and Keith reflect on their family, and their chances of survival, while the Garrison trio face new challenges in helping a winged race overtaken by the Galra.

::::

By the time the creatures got tired of sniffing around the Black Lion, Shiro had limped to a cave and taken refuge there. It was a slim opening and he wiggled his way in best he could, hearing the creatures growl to each other once they spotted him―or detected his scent; he wasn't sure what their weaknesses or capabilities were, which made it all the more terrifying to be stuck in a small, tight space with their claws pawing his only exit, scrabbling and chipping away slowly at the rock.

"Keith, uh, you should probably hurry," Shiro said through the commlink. He wasn't sure how much of the static was blocking their connection.

"l'll be right there—"

A heavy pit grew in Shiro's stomach as he realized 'right there' may not be soon enough. Groaning, he pushed himself onto pathetically shaky legs and his hands searched the rock walls for some kind of ledge or foothold, just to get his balance, when his panicked mind—the snarling creatures were beginning to destroy the meagre boulders blocking their path—remembered his jetpack.

Wisps of fire and smoke came out of the device, but it still sent him shooting upwards. The front of his foot caught the ledge as he angled himself up and out of the narrow crevice, and he tripped and stumbled hard onto the rocky ground above it. One of the creatures growled to the others and he knew it wouldn't be long before they caught up to him.

Endure and survive, he reminded himself, trying to close off his emotions. It had always worked in the gladiator ring. Most of the time, anyway. His arm sputtered as he tried to activate it, before glowing a flickering purple. The damn thing was malfunctioning, but at least it was somewhat working. He pulled himself into a shaky defensive stance, raising his arm as the only weapon he had. He had a feeling paladin armour wouldn't work too well against the creature's claws and tusks.

He could see the banged up form of his Lion, resting her head on her paws as Keith's voice crackled through the commlink. "I'm on my way, Shiro, just hold on a little longer—"

He didn't know if that would be possible as the creatures clawed their way up to the ledge he was on, circling him and snapping their jaws.

He looked hopelessly to the Black Lion. There was no reason for her to respond—she was damaged, had spat him out into space and gone rogue on him once seeing her old paladin, her true paladin. Zarkon.

His stomach squirmed at the thought of it, rather than imminent death.

He had stared death in the eyes many times before, after all. Had narrowly avoided it more times than he could count. He had always thought it would be faster, or agonizingly slow. Getting struck down in the arena in a flash, or watching his opponent loom over him before making the final blow. The seconds ticking by, and him, helpless.

He wouldn't let himself be helpless anymore—if only for the team. For the Paladins and Allura and Coran, who were all counting on him. They were only in this mess after all, because he had lost Allura. And if Keith came with these creatures still prowling around and he got hurt... Shiro wouldn't let anyone else get hurt fixing his mistakes. Not again.

He raised his head, chancing a look over at the Black Lion, hoping to see her eyes glow. A flicker of light. Anything. But there was nothing. Had Zarkon's renewed connection broken her the same way the Galra had broken him? Through his frustration, the shakiness of his hands, he felt pity stir in his chest. It was cold, unlike the pulsing heat of the wound at his side.

The largest creature, even if it had the most obvious ribcage (did they have ribcages? Or was alien biology fundamentally different?), managed to haul itself up onto the ledge. He was running out of time.

Gritting his teeth and momentarily mourning the loss of his helmet―he didn't want to imagine these things eating his brain―Shiro forced himself into a crouch, trying to activate his arm again. The purple light fizzled but maintained some type of glow, and he only hoped it was enough to be a somewhat lethal weapon.

It would have to be enough.

He waited two heartbeats before hurtling himself forwards, dodging a swipe of the creature's claw and then brought his hand up like a dagger. The creature swerved around it, and this time its claw caught him on the side, aggravating the pulsing purple wound as it tossed him with one mighty sweep. Shiro hit the floor hard, and rolled, groaning.

There was nothing but loud static clogging up his commlink, even if he could hear faint, disjointed snippets of what Keith was saying, reassurances that he'd be here soon. But if it was growing worse, than Keith could have even been headed in the wrong direction.

He wouldn't get here in time. No one was coming to save him.

Shiro took a deep breath, and pushed himself onto his knees. He'd always been determined, even in the gladiator ring, that he'd die fighting if he could help it.

The two other creatures joined the first one, circling him like vultures with low growls building in their throats. The biggest one, the first, pounced before he could steady himself. The creature's claws dug into the already weathered plates of his armour, scratching furiously and slowly chipping away tiny flecks of white.

He was going to die here, and he was never going to see his team, or his family again.

Maybe things would have turned out different if he had been better. If he had never let Allura get captured in the first place; if he'd been able to remain in control over the Black Lion, to help the team instead of needing to be rescued, again. Maybe then they would have had enough time to get out once the shield had gone down, before Zarkon's witch had ruined everything.

Before he had ruined everything.

And what kind of paladin was he if he couldn't even keep his Lion from falling into enemy hands? He couldn't find the strength to raise his head one last time to look at Black, not with this bony creature snapping its jaw closer and closer to his throat.

_I'm sorry Black._

A roar shattered the air and his eardrums, and then suddenly the creatures were off of him, and he could breathe properly again. Black and a glowing yellow filled his vision, but unlike Haggar's harsh, cruel light, this was softer. More powerful.

Black's belly loomed well above his head, her paws outstretched well on either side of him but close enough to be protective. She was protecting him. She had saved him.

"Shiro―can you hear me? Shiro!"

"Loud and clear, Keith," he said over the commlink. His fellow paladin's voice was still obscured by static, but coming in far more quickly. Keith must have been close. "I'm alright, Black―" The wound in his side pulsed painfully, and his voice broke off.

"I'll be there soon," Keith promised, and this time he kept it, as Shiro saw him coming up over the ridge, over the ledge, until he was only a feet few away. Black slowly backed down, easing back onto her haunches like the giant metallic cat she was, her tail swirled behind her.

Shiro hefted himself into a sitting position, leaning against the curve of Black's side as she settled onto the ground, with a little help from Keith. "We should make camp," he managed, hoping his hand could light up so they could get a fire going.

Keith placed a hand on his arm and lowered it. "You're still hurt, Shiro. I'll go get Red, and we'll see if she's operational. She can help us get a fire going. I'll be right back, okay? Don't go anywhere."

"Where would I go?" he called after him, as Keith pulled on his helmet. It wasn't like his legs were cooperating at the moment, and the wound in his side hurt more than ever. When would that witch stop tormenting him? When would her ruinous, iron grip finally loosen on his life and his body?

He closed his eyes for what only felt like moments when he heard the sound of metal crunching against the ground, and saw Keith leading a limping Red back over the ridge. The Lion managed to spurt out some sparks of fire once he had gathered some rocks that seemed flammable, and created a makeshift camp site.

"Looks like your survival training in the Garrison paid off," said Shiro proudly.

Keith ducked his head as he took a seat. "Or living in the desert for a year did," he said sourly.

Shiro frowned. "I know the Garrison was not a perfect school, nor were you a perfect student, but―"

"They tried to convince me you were dead," Keith snapped. "And I almost believed them too, I just―I didn't have anyone else left."

"Why didn't you go back to my mother? I'm sure she was worried."

"Why would she have been notified that I was expelled? You were listed as my next of kin, and she was listed as yours. The Garrison wouldn't tell me anything about the mission…" Keith frowned. "You were buried in the same graveyard, by the way. They buried your diploma, next to Dad and Uncle Hiro. Aunt Gina has your medals."

Shiro leaned back and closed his eyes. Hiro and Gina. His dead father, his living mother. "They really do think I'm dead, don't they?"

"Yeah. I'm afraid they do." Keith scowled. "The Garrison said the mission failure was your fault, but none of us believed that."

"I know."

"That's why I didn't tell your mom. I had to stay and figure out what I could find, I―"

"I understand, Keith," said Shiro, with a slight smile. "I would have done the same for you. I'm just saying, getting yourself kicked out of the Garrison for behavioural problems and then living in the nearby desert probably wasn't the most thought out route. You don't always think things through."

"Well neither did you, when you decided to attack Zarkon head on."

"I just invaded his base. You were the one who literally attacked him head on. Which is why your Lion is so banged up right now."

"Okay, okay―" Keith held up his hands, frowning again. "Just admit that you're not always the most rational when it comes to Princess Allura."

Shiro's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Keith sighed. "Nothing."

Shiro was silent for a moment, his mind now stuck on the princess. She hadn't left it since being taken captive by the Galra. Since the moment she'd left him, or perhaps it was the other way around: when he'd been forced to leave her. That one last smile she'd given him had haunted him, but so had the look of fear and desperation only moments before. His heart clenched.

"Do you think Allura and the others are okay?" he said finally, when he couldn't fight it anymore.

Keith snorted. "Amazing. You almost died three times today and have a gaping hole in your side and you're worried about Allura?"

Shiro fought the flush rising to his cheeks. "Yes," he said shortly. "And everyone else."

Keith dropped his gaze to the crackling fire, his eyes distant. "Yeah," the Red Paladin said gloomily, although Shiro could tell by the look in his eyes it wasn't the princess he was thinking of. "Me too." He was quiet before he asked, "How long do you think we'll be stuck here?"

"I don't know," Shiro admitted. "But once the lions are operational, we should leave this planet and figure out where we are. Find a less hostile place, find food and water."

"Maybe the others can come rescue us," Keith suggested.

Shiro thought of the creatures, and wondered where they had crawled off too. If they would dare come back, but it was probably better not to find out. "Yeah."

And soon.

::::

It had only taken a few mile's hike for Elyta to show them the high, red mountains where the Galra ship was anchored. Pods were set into the mountains ledges, with a battleship looming above and casting shadows over the white peaks. Her black wings fanned out on either side of her, as they crept closer to the mountain. Two moons were setting over the horizon, as night slowly left the planet of Hootowling

"I understand that your lions are not operational at the moment," she said, as Lance, Pidge, and Hunk holed themselves away behind a cluster of boulders. "But we don't have the time to waste. Your lions cannot be that powerful, anyway, without wings and swords."

"So, you want us to help you break into a galra ship, why?" said Lance flatly.

Elyta turned her sharp eyes on him, and smiled. "Strength in numbers, blue one. See over there?" She pointed to floating rectangles that were hovering up from the ground, and then docking at the belly of a huge Galra warship. "They are stealing our minerals to create more powerful guns, but the minerals are only powerful when they are mixed with a feather of our wings. That is why they have taken my family and many others prisoner. We must free them."

"Why didn't you get taken?"

Her expression darkened. "I was too strong, and they preyed on the weak, the way they always do."

"We can use our bayards to open up a hole to get into the ship," said Lance.

"Why not just go up hidden in one of the cargo transports?" asked Hunk.

"It might be hard for Elyta to hide her beautiful wings."

The winged woman rolled her eyes. "The ship is large, and they may have different prisoners in different parts of the ship. I do not believe we are the only aliens imprisoned there. I think it is in our best interest. Skinny blue and big yellow, you can sneak up with the cargo. The small green one and I will sneak aboard another way using my," she shot a pointed look at Lance, " _powerful_  wings."

Lance gulped. "Yes ma'am."

"Good." Elyta looked to Pidge, and then nodded. "Let's go."

Pidge reluctantly left Lance and Hunk to their own devices, but knew that they would be fine. They were capable, Hunk mentally and physically strong, and Lance, as much as she would never admit it, could come up with some pretty good plans sometimes, and Hunk knew how to follow his lead (in spite of however much he often didn't want to). But beyond that, they made a good team, as two people who were that incredibly close and in sync with each other, and she knew it was no coincidence that, even forgetting how she'd had to keep her identity a secret, she had never fit with them the same way they fit with each other.

But that was just fine, too. She'd never had many friends. Other kids her age had thought she was weird, or too much of a brainiac. Her best friend growing up had been her brother, and now Matt...

She swallowed hard as she glanced at Elyta. Wanting to rescue your family from the Galra? That was something she could understand all too well.

"So," Pidge cocked one hand on her hip, "what's the―"

Elyta gripped her under each arm, and soared into the air with a great flap of her wings, and Pidge did her best not to scream too loudly.

Flying without a lion was terrifying, and she managed to clamp her mouth shut despite the terror having a tight hold over her heart, as they flew closer towards the ship, around the backend of the curve of one of the mountains, so none of the galra sentries would spot them. Elyta kept her upright as they approached the ship, until Pidge could touch the metal side with her gloved hand, and summoned her bayard to her hand. The green whip glowed as she jammed it into the wall, cutting its way through the metal.

She pushed the metal circle she had cut out through with her feet, and then swung herself inside. She shifted herself into a crouch, bayard in hand, as Elyta squeezed herself and her large leathery wings through the hole. Pidge tilted her head as she mentally activated her commlink, picking up on the boys' signals.

"Lance? Hunk? You there?" she whispered.

"Loud and clear, Pidge," said Lance with a cocky flare, and she could picture the shit-eating grin on his face and rolled her eyes.

"You guys got in okay?" checked Hunk.

"Mmhm. I think we're on the third floor. You?"

"Hunk hacked into a sentry like a boss," Lance said excitedly,

"Only after Lance shot it down like a boss," added Hunk, and there was the sound of them exchanging a quick high-five.

"We're downloading blueprints of the place now," Lance continued. "We'll send them to you over the feed once we got 'em, okay? They're almost done... alright, we're tracking your signal now... You're on the fourth floor, above a storage unit and to your left, one floor up, is the first floor of a prison cell. There's some cells below Hunk and I right now, so―"

"Uh, Lance?" said Hunk, his voice rising in nervousness. "We got company!"

There was the sound of gunfire and blasters, but she knew they'd be alright. Both were pretty good sharpshooters, mostly under Shiro and Allura's guidance during training drills. Hopefully the other paladins and the rest of her team were okay too. She didn't want to forsake one family for the sake of saving another.

"We'll meet you in the bottom hangar when we need to escape," said Pidge, leaving the commlink open in case they had anymore updates, but ignoring the loud connection for the time being, as with a quick flurry of her fingers over the panel of her right arm, she brought up a hologram of the downloaded blueprint plans. If they were going to get prisoners back home, they'd need an actual shuttle of some kind, or a galra ship. They'd worry about not getting shot down by the locals when they came to it.

Elyta moved her weight forwards on a crouch, her wings fluttering behind her as she took out the sword strapped to her back, in between her wings. "Come," she beckoned, "let us go find my people."

They managed to mostly avoid the sentries, Pidge using the blueprints to guess their guard shift and changes as best she could as they crept towards the elevator that would take them to the next floor up. When they did get found, Elyta was more than capable at slicing them to pieces with quick slashes of her sword, before any alarms could be found. Clearly, the galra didn't expect the Winged Ones to fight back with most of their warriors stolen away, their people diminished and devastated.

In a way, Elyta reminded Pidge of Allura. Maybe she and the princess would get along better than she thought, next time she saw her—if she saw her again—and they could talk about something other than peanuts and leaving Voltron.

Elyta cut down the sentries guarding the elevator with a quick punch and wide arc of her sword, and Pidge picked up a dismembered sentry's arm and placed it over the scanner. The doors dinged open and they rushed inside, Elyta shooting the scanner with a quick blast so they couldn't be easily followed.

An alarm suddenly blared, most likely activated by the destruction of the scanner, and galra soldiers charged down the connected hallway. A laser hit the high left corner of the elevator, burning it to a crisp, but the doors shut before they could properly reach the elevator, and Pidge loosed a breath of relief.

"You are brave," said Elyta admirably, "for a small one."

Pidge blinked. "Thank you?"

"The others are more competent than I thought as well."

She frowned a little. "If you thought so lowly of us, then why invite us on this mission?"

"I have heard the stories of Voltron, of your leader, the Champion. I thought at the very least, if you didn't die right away, you would be a good distraction for the galra."

Pidge almost snorted. "How...pragmatic of you."

Elyta smiled widely, looking delighted. "Thank you!"

It seemed to take forever for the elevator to rise, so long Pidge worried the galra had hijacked the controls, but maybe it was just because her heart was racing so fast even as her legs stood still, when the floors finally opened on the fifth floor. They were immediately bombarded by guards, and she found herself wishing for a bayard that could take down more enemies more efficiently, like Hunk and Lance's blasters, but she made due with her whip, sliding underneath and around people's legs and yanking them down by wrapping the whip around their ankles, and yanking them into one another. Elyta was similarly efficient, taking down more sentries with sweeps of her sword and barely breaking a sweat.

They used another sentry's hand to get through the final passcode, and found a hallway full of barred cells, filled to the brim with Winged Ones, their wings cramped and feathered hands clutching at the bars.

"Can you get them out?" Elyta asked, as her people all pushed forward as close to the bars as they could get, peering faces with owlish eyes.

"I need keys, or a code—" said Pidge, looking around. "A key card of some kind." Maybe it had been left behind with the guards outside?

"We can't go back out," Elyta barked, "I can hear the guards outside, we're boxed in."

"Just give me a few minutes to hack the system." Pidge went to the nearest key pad, and plugged in.

Elyta threw her a glare. "Make it a minute, Green Paladin. We don't have time to waste."

Pidge cursed furiously under her breath as she met the first firewall of the system, working to undo it, while Elyta wandered down the hallway, greeting friends and looking for her family. She could hear galra banging on the door keeping them out and knew it was only a matter of time before they broke through.

They were running out of time. She only prayed her fingers could move fast enough, and that the boys were having better luck than she was.

::::

The castle was unmistakable, Allura realized, staring at it. It looked exactly the way it had in her youth, even more so than it did in the present, smelling of dust and decay and most rooms still untouched or not fully functional. Looming over the field of juniberries was the castle ship in all its glory, and above it were the spiralling sky cities, flat planes of white metal moulded into laboratories and schools so that the ground below could be used for nature and farming and beauty.

Her heart leapt to her throat.

Altea. She was finally home.

"I don't know understand," she mumbled, her eyes filling with tears. "This―this should not be possible. How did this―"

"Haggar must have turned the wormhole into a time warp―intentionally or not, her magic messed it up," said Coran, worriedly stroking his mustache. "I… we really are on Altea, princess. We just have to figure out what time period we're in. The castle's looked the same since my father was a boy. And we'll have to go about this carefully of course, we don't want to mess with time―very dangerous thing, you know―"

She nodded numbly, barely hearing him, but her mind did get snagged on a sharp, prying thought. "And then we go back to the present? Without changing anything?"

Coran approached her tentatively. "We don't know how our presence here—additional presence—may affect the future. If we change something, it may end up changing things for the worse rather than the better. History can be a funny thing, even with good intentions."

Something sharp snapped into place inside her, as she narrowed her eyes. "We can't just stand here and do nothing―"

"Good thing we're not, then." Coran clasped his hands behind his back. "Let's go to the palace, princess. We need to start putting the pieces together."

Allura grumbled under her breath, and followed him away from their castleship to well, the actual castleship in its prime. If they were in the Altea she remembered, the years she had lived there, then perhaps... Her eyes watched Coran's back, and then flickered to the field of juniberries, trying to breathe in the scent before they would have to be memories again. But maybe...

If Coran expected her to not save her people—their people—when they had been given a second chance, than he had another thing coming.

The pathway led to the castle was surprisingly scarce of Alteans, but those that were there were garbed in white armour adorned with the colours of their family houses, with hints of pink for fallen loved ones. Soldiers. She wondered, if this was far back enough before the fall of Altea, if her mother would still be alive. If that was the case, she wouldn't be able to speak with her, as she had been only a child, 100 years old, when her mother had passed on. But she could steal a look, have something more to remember her by than a golden circlet and an empty castle.

The foyer of the palace was swirling with activity, generals and battle strategists and more soldiers. She recognized Thora Wimbleton Smythe standing in a cadet's uniform, who had her brother's same gingery hair and chipper look to her eyes, blue markings curved underneath. Coran nearly stopped short at the sight of his younger sister.

"Thora."

Allura tugged on his arm, pulling him forward before they could be spotted. But she knew one thing for sure, now. They were not far from the fall of Altea. Only a year out, perhaps, before the hundredth day of their third month, in the two-hundred-twenty-thousandth year of the Ancients. The darkest day of Altean history, and a day she had spent most of which locked away with in a cryopod, she thought with some bitterness.

But if Coran was right, they couldn't be spotted, or interact with anyone, until it was absolutely necessary.

They ducked down an adjourning hallway, as Coran sniffled violently, and she patted him gently on the back. "I never got to say goodbye to her," he revealed quietly, and something in her heart broke.

Thora had been the closest thing she'd had to an aunt, a talented Altean woman in her late 400s with a great sense of humour, not unlike her brother. She and Coran had been thick of thieves as children, and she'd been working her way up to a position in the castle before the fall.

"I'm sorry, Coran," she told him. She couldn't find the strength to speak it, but she knew, somewhat, how he had been feeling. Granted, the last time he'd seen Thora had been a happy occasion, at her wedding, rather than a burning battlefield when Allura hadn't gotten the chance to say goodbye to her father, but still. She knew how freshly the wound could ache.

Coran shook himself straight by the jacket. "No, no, you're right, princess. We have to focus on the present—er, the past? The future? My grandfather was very interested in the physics of time, but we never thought it would be possible—"

"Focus, Coran."

"Yes, right."

They were walking towards her old room, as if Allura was right, she was always out during this time of day, usually training with the knights of her father's guard in combat of all kinds. Her room would be a safe place to orient herself, and check the Altean tomes for a way home—well, not home, but back to the present, to her paladins. Her lungs turned tight as they rounded a corner, and saw the door to her room up ahead, connected with the hallway of the royal family: her father's room that had once been her parents, a room for Coran as her father's trusted advisor, and her mother's memorial room.

"Daughter?"

Her heart lodged itself in her throat as she found herself face to face with her father. He was swathed in his usual blue cape and white and yellow armour, looking as old as he did in his AI.

"Hello, father," she greeted. Coran was shock still, and Alfor looked at him.

"Are you alright, old friend? You look rather pale."

"F-fine!" Coran forced a laugh that came out more nervous than sincere. "You know me, chipper as always, I was merely speaking with the princess about the—the horrible state of things—"

Alfor's concern melted in something more grim, and serious. "Of course, Coran. I do have a matter I wish to speak with you later about. But for now, leave me with my daughter?"

"Certainly, sire," said Coran, far more solemnly. He looked on the verge of tears, and avoided Allura's eyes when she glanced at him. "I will simply be... elsewhere." He scurried away, and she tried not to frown. Great. Not only when she have to find him later, but she had to make sure she had the right Coran, too.

But for now, she turned her attention to her father. It looked like she would get one last conversation, after all. "Yes Father?"

"Allura." Alfor took her hands, and squeezed them. "My little juniberry, I... am so proud of the woman you have become. Your mother would be as well, you know that, don't you?"

"Yes?" she said slowly. Her father hadn't told her this in the first timeline (although she'd known it as well), so why was he telling her this now? Because she was here, and the opportunity amidst all the chaos had shown itself?

"Whatever comes, we are proud of you." He leaned forward and kissed the centre of her circlet. "Always remember that."

"I will." She felt like crying, but held back tears as he released her hands and stepped away. "I love you, Father."

He smiled at her, and she wanted to remember everything about it: the way his eyes crinkled, the wrinkles lining his face, the slight scruff of his beard. He hadn't smiled at her, at the end of all things. "I love you too, daughter."

It was the third time she had let him go, but it wasn't any easier.

Once she had collected herself, she found Coran in the library. He had often loitered there, fascinated by all the galaxies he hadn't visited and even the ones he had, and it was the place most likely to have the information it needed. It looked just like her castle, but with shining light of one of Altea's suns rather than the artificial light of a programmed day cycle. The rows upon rows of books reached up towards the ceiling in handsome wooden bookshelves, with arm chairs down below, and none of it was covered in dust.

He was bent over some books and she saw his grandfather's name printed as the author along the spine, and stroking his mustache as he read, looking up when he saw her, his expression uneasy. Clearly he didn't know if she was his Allura, or the one who belonged to the past. "Hello princess," he greeted.

"Relax, Coran, it's me. What have you found in regards of going back to the present?"

He gave her a grim look. "You're not going to be happy about it, princess."

She pursed her lips. "I have not been happy in a very long time." She clasped her hands in front of her. "Please, explain."

Coran glanced down at the book, and she saw a picture of a star exploding. "Well, in theory, it goes like this..."

::::

"And, there!" Pidge allowed herself a quick, triumphant smile as the bars of every cell sank into the floor, and the citizens of Hootowling rushed out of their cells. She could see Elyta embracing two older Winged Ones, with the same golden eyes and black wings that she did, and what looked like a younger brother and sister.

Her gaze snapped away from the happy reunion to the door, as the galra pounded dents into it. They had gotten past the blasted up elevator, but now she needed to find a way out. She tuned into her commlink.

"Hunk? Lance?"

"We're here, Pidge," Hunk responded, breathing hard. "We're heading to the hangar now with a bunch of the Winged Ones. What about you?"

"We're a little preoccupied, but we'll be there soon," she promised. "Elyta, we need a game plan out of here."

She nodded. "Everyone, fly as close as you can to the ceiling. When the Galra come in, we'll drop on them. As soon as you can make your way to the door, flee. The Green Paladin of Voltron will lead you to safety."

Pidge readied her bayard as the Winged Ones all took to the ceiling, as high as they could, hovering in place. Elyta gave her father her sword, and tightly gripped her dagger instead. Pidge tried to steady her breathing, listening to her heartbeat pound in time as the galra broke down the door in heavy blows, until it burst open. They rushed in like a sea wave of guns and metal, purple and red as they fired and shed blood. The Winged Ones dropped down from the ceiling with war cries, all those who could fight taking the place of those who could not, one more elderly alien herding the younger ones towards the door.

Pidge twisted galra up in her whip, dodging blasts and almost getting pinned by one, with their thick, clawed hand, until Elyta knocked them off of her with a powerful kick, swooping down from above. She fought like a demon instead of the angel she so resembled, baring her teeth, her dagger covered up to the hilt in blood.

"Get my brother and sister out of here," she ordered, and Pidge clambered to her feet, locating the two siblings near the elder already herding the children out.

They had the same black hair and golden eyes as their older sister. "You're Elyta's siblings?" she checked, and they nodded, unsure; their parents and sister were still in the battle. She looked at the other fearful eyes of the children; one had had nearly all of their left wing plucked, and her stomach lurched at the blood tipped feathers that remained. "Follow me. I'm going to cut you a path through the galra outside, and get you to safety." She connected to her commlink. "Lance, Hunk, I'm going to need your help up here—get the Winged Ones you have to an some escape pods and get up here!"

"On our way," Lance promised.

She only hoped they could get here fast enough.

She hurtled herself forward into the crowd of oncoming galra, and any Winged One that could followed her lead. She knocked soldier after soldier down, and they grabbed the discarded guns and started mowing down the soldiers that came to take their fallen brethren's place. Her heart leapt to her throat when she heard yelling and more blaster fire, until she saw Hunk and Lance emerging from the galra ranks, who were now being attacked on both sides.

A bunch of the children raced towards Hunk and grabbed onto his arms, and he hoisted a good five up on each arm, swinging as he adjusted to the sudden weight, his bayard disappearing from his hand. "Uh—"

"Get them to the pods," Lance said, still firing. "I'll cover ya!"

Hunk shot him a grateful grin, and hurried away with a bunch more of the children in tow. "C'mon kids, there are more ways to fly than just wings."

Lance and Pidge were not fighting side by side, as more and more of the Winged Ones left the prison cell, carrying Galra guns. Now there were only a dozen or so soldiers left in the prison cells fighting Elyta and her parents, the former having one foot on the threshold of the door.

Pidge's heart dropped when the wall on the far side of the prison suddenly opened to reveal a door, and more Galra rushed in, nearly as many as they had already defeated. It was too many for the few fighters the Paladins had left, as almost every other Winged One was already headed towards the bottom hangar.

Elyta went to step towards them, when her mother looked back at her, both their eyes wide and fearful, but firm.

And Pidge watched, astounded, as Elyta stepped back over the threshold, and shot the scanner. The doors on both side of the hall clanged shut, sealing her parents inside with the soldiers.

" _What are you doing_?" Pidge shouted, grabbing her arm.

Elyta's eyes are bright as she shook her off. "Let's go. Everyone, to the hangar. We're getting out of here."

She led everyone else down to the hangar, where Hunk was prepping another shuttle; one had already left, the alarms flashing and blaring only growing in volume. As soon as they came running in, he blasted the scanner to keep the doors sealed. "We got everyone?" he checked.

"Yes," said Elyta, her voice sharp. "Load up the rest of my people into a pod. Blue and Green Paladin, help me ready another shuttle for our escape."

They jumped into action, even as Pidge grumbled her breath, and Lance helped her wrench open a panel of the shuttle next to the one Hunk was preparing, so that she could hack into the controls as well. She hooked her arm up into the plug, and started tying. It was run of the mill, as Hunk and Elyta finished loading up his shuttle with all of the remaining Winged Ones, until something caught her eye.

 _{GUNS: blocked access_ — _safety protocol}_

Her fingers flew over the holographic keyboard above her arm. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

 _{GUNS: operational_ — _achieved access_ — _safety protocol: unlocked}_

"Alright, everything should be operational," she called over. There was a rush of heat and wind as the first shuttle lifted into the air, and shot out the exit way, out of a similar loading dock to the one that had cargo. "I gave us access to guns in case we need to fight the Galra off with a distraction, or something."

"Nice work Pidge," said Lance, opening up the shuttle. "Now come on, let's blow this popsicle stand!"

The three paladins and Elyta climbed into the shuttle, and she found since it was more than an escape pod, it really didn't look that different from the flight simulator models back at the Garrison. Lance got into the pilot seat after almost tripping over his own long legs. "Sweet, I'm the pilot, Hunk, you're the engineer in case this rust bucket goes wayside, and Pidge, you'll be our communications specialist. Let the Winged Ones know not to shoot us down?" He grinned. "It's just like back home."

"You mean back home where you crashed our simulator?"

"Oh shut up."

Pidge hooked up herself up to the communications module and started sending out peace signals. With any luck, the Hootowlings would have tech to pick it up and show that they had received it.

The shuttle hurtled out of the hangar, and nearly crashed into a swarm of galra cargo before Lance swerved them out of the way. "Blue's controls are a bit different!" he laughed nervously.

"Well figure it out, 'cause we got company," said Pidge, looking out the windshield. A dozen if not more galra fighters were coming down after them.

"Elyta, man the guys!" said Lance.

Elyta blinked. "Um—"

"Those joystick thing-ys," Hunk added, pointing to things that resembled an upside down bicycle handle bar, with buttons on top.

Elyta gripped them and pressed the button experimentally, grinning when she hit a ship with a fiery blast. "Ooh! Yes, die galra scum!" she shouted with that same wild grin, firing off shot after shot.

Hunk and Lance exchanged a glance. "At least she's enthusiastic," said Hunk, until his expression changed to terror. "Lance, look out!"

"Whoa—!" Lance jerked the controls back to try and slow down the shuttle, before glancing up as Elyta shot down another one of the fighters. "Hunk, Pidge, if we hit certain points in the ship, can we bring it down?"

"You mean like pressure points?" asked Hunk, and he nodded. "Uh, yeah."

"Can you guys show Elyta where they are?"

He and Pidge glanced at each other. "Give us a minute," Hunk requested, hooking his arm up with the system, and opening up a hatch below his chair and fiddling with some wires.

"Make sure you reroute the image projection," Pidge reminded him, and he switched the red and black wires.

"Got it. Try activating it now?"

Pidge hit a button near her screens, and holographic images showed up on the windshield of their shuttle, blue and seemingly floating over certain pressure points in the ship: a curving piece of metal there as adornment, a weaker engine, among other places. Elyta hit each other with only a few misses, and Lance let out a whoop as the ship groaned and started to collapse in on itself.

"Yeah! Go team Voltron!"

"Lance, you need to fly us out of here before the ship crushes us," said Pidge.

"Uh, right..." Lance gulped nervously, but then set his shoulders and clutched the controls tightly.

"I know you can do this, buddy," said Hunk, and Lance loosed a deep breath. His jaw was tight, his eyes steady and focused.

As the great ship above them began to fall, he put the shuttle into overdrive, and the remaining fighters careened as they desperately tried to get away, swooping into their path. He did a series of spins, not unlike how the blue lion could maneuver, as the bottom of the ship tilted and hit the first peak of the closest mountain. A narrow pass was coming up ahead, two ships that had crashed into each other sticking up from the ground, at the tip of a mountain furthest from the crashing ship. The looming shadow blocked out the rising sun.

"Lance we're not gonna make it," hissed Pidge, as their way out grew smaller with every passing second.

"Yes we are," he replied, pushing the speed to the max.

"It's too narrow," said Elyta, owlish eyes wide in alarm.

"Not if I thread the needle."

Pidge frowned at him. Did he forget what happened the last time he'd tried that? In a  _simulator_? " _Lance_ ―" She was thrown out of her seat as he turned the entire side of the ship vertically (thank God Hunk was a good crash pillow) and she waited for something to go wrong, for them to lose a wing, for the sound of metal grinding against metal before they were crushed―

It never came. The head of their ship lightly banged into the bottom of one of the fighters sticking upright, and the engine was rattling around due to the firepower being used, but their ship cleared the pass, cleared the falling ship as it came down on top of the mountain with a mighty crash.

Hunk launched himself at Lance, along with Pidge, nearly lifting him up from the pilot seat. "You did it!" Hunk exclaimed, squeezing him before setting him down. "I mean I knew you would, no doubt about it, but jeez, that was kinda close you know—"

Pidge gave him an admiring look. "Not bad, Tailor."

"Ha, yeah!" Lance puffed out his chest importantly. "See? I knew that nickname would catch on." He glanced back at the ruined warship, and looked to Elyta. "Sorry about your mountain, though."

"No matter," said Elyta. "Set us down near the other shuttles, that landed safely?" Lance spied them and turned the ship around, over to that direction. The two shuttles were little black dots near the Hootowling village. Elyta straightened up, and squared her shoulders. "I need to address my people."

::::

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will either be called "Across the Universe (III)" or "The Fall of Altea", although I haven't decided upon which. It will be more Altean centric, as well as some backstory to Hunk, Pidge and Lance's Garrison days. Hope you enjoy this chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts, and thank you for all your support. If you're interested in knowing more about this fic, please check out my blog for it, known as "voltron-fix-it-fic" on tumblr!
> 
> Thank you for reading. I hope to have the next chapter out sooner than this one!


	3. Across the Universe (III)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter of the "Across the Universe" arc. Pidge faces Elyta's decision, while Hunk and Lance reflect on humble beginnings. Allura and Coran make the hardest choice imaginable to preserve what remains of their future, and the memories of their families.

::::

_"Did your letter come?"_

_Lance's excited voice was a common sound in the Garrett household, even if it was usually in person rather than over the landline like it was now. Malae held the phone a tad away from her ear, tilting the bottom end towards her mouth so she could speak._ _"Sorry Lance, this is Malae—Hunk and Lili are bringing in the mail right now."_

_"Perfect, I'll be right over! Thanks Mrs. Garrett!"_

_She chuckled as she set the phone down, knowing the boy would quickly sprint over the three backyards dividing the houses, and that he'd likely be at the door just as soon as her wife and child would be, coming up from the driveway._

_Sure enough, the lanky fifteen year old is grinning in her doorway, as Hunk and Lili stand on the porch steps after she's opened the door. "Did you get your letter?" he asked Hunk, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I got mine but I haven't opened it yet, I wanted to open ours together—my family's in my backyard, waiting for us!"_

_"I hope you didn't trample Mrs. Wen's flowers on your way over?" said Lili, but she was smiling._

_Lance grinned sheepishly. "I dunno if I would say trampled, but... I may have stepped on them a bit?"_

_"It's a good thing the old lady can barely see, then," said Malae._

_"But we'll help you make some cookies to bring over as apology, anyway," Lili added._

_Lance beamed at them. "Thank you, Mrs. Garret, and Mrs. Garret."_

_His family_ _—an older brother, a sister with a swelling belly, their respective significant others, his grandparents, and his own parents_ _—were indeed waiting for him with a celebration cake already prepared, before the boys could even rip open their letters. The letters were long, full of details and protocol and requirements, but only one sentence really mattered:_ We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the Galaxy Garrison School of Space.

**::::**

"You must be kidding me," said Allura flatly, once Coran had finished speaking. They were still in the library, but had finished pouring over the thick Altean text in the search for their way back to the present.

He twisted his mustache nervously. "I wish I was, but Haggar's wormhole has closed by now. This is the only way."

Her hands bunched up into fists, and she slammed them down onto the table in front of her, leaving decent sized dents, her shoulders shaking. "We must let Altea be destroyed in order to go back to the present?"

"The force of the planet exploding is the only thing I can think of that will be powerful enough to allow us to time travel," said Coran patiently, "in addition to being an incredibly dangerous thing to attempt in the first place, but I think... princess?"

She rapidly blinked back tears, gritting her teeth and choking it down. Now wasn't the time to be emotional; it never was. "I am fine, Coran. Continue."

He gave her a sad look, his brows knit together. "Princess."

"If we had been sent back even later in time, perhaps there would be time to save Altea," she said stiffly. "But the Galra will be here by daybreak, and we have very little time left. If there is anything we must do for our castleship to be ready for departure, then please, let me know."

Coran sighed, letting go of his mustache. "We must make sure that we are within orbit of the explosion, in order to harness its energy from its electromagnetic field within the galaxy. And we should bring a spare crystal with us, because the force of the wormhole will almost completely drain the one we have, unfortunately."

"We'll have to go down to the crystal catacombs, then," Allura said. Altea in its glory days had stored and grown spare crystals from chunks of Balmeran rock, in addition to gathering crystals from Balmeras themselves, and keeping them in a storage area far below the juniberry fields near the castleship. It was a convenience of flying Altean ships that had been lost to the cosmos and time.

"Without being noticed," Coran reminded her. "Remember, in the days leading up the fall, there was increased security to make sure that only ships fully loaded with passengers could leave the planet, and they needed the most powerful crystals to power those ships."

Allura bit back a sigh. It had been ten thousand years and six months since the fall of Altea, but even only six months after waking from the cryopod, some details had been lost no matter how badly she tried to remember them. The last glimpse of her planet before the explosion was a blurry tattoo on the backs of her eyelids, nothing more than blue and green and white before it turned into a fiery explosion of debris. Saying goodbye to her friends as they were loaded into ships, before the Galra had gunned those ships down too. She shut her eyes, willing herself not to cry, and when she quickly reopened them, they were dry.

"Yes, you're right, Coran," she said simply, grateful when her voice was steady. "But I doubt anyone will question me, as the crown heir."

She was finally the princess of something again—a people, a planet—and she was going to lose them all over again.

"Or me," said Coran. "I'll go in your stead, but say I'm on your business if anyone asks. I'll bring the crystal to the backdoor entrance, near the servant's quarters."

Allura blinked, remembering sneaking out that backdoor in her youth, drawing up the hood of her cloak and changing her appearance ever so slightly, so she could sneak into town to dance and have fun with friends without being recognized as the crown princess.

Coran's mustache twitched as he added, "The one you would always sneak out of."

"Wait, you knew about that?"

"Your father and I were far more observant than you give us credit for. You are his only daughter, after all."

"I will meet you by the door in two hours?" Allura checked.

Coran nodded, closing the book and setting it upon the nearest shelf. "And not a tick later."

Allura waited until he was gone to rest her head in her hands, tears leaking out of her eyes before she hastily wiped them away. If she had been given a few more hours on Altea, she was going to use them wisely. But first, there was someone she needed to visit.

::::

"What is  _wrong_  with you?"

Pidge didn't know what had compelled her to say it, in the dimly lit hollow of Elyta's hut back in the village. The warrior had made sure her people were taking care of, guiding them back to their huts and homes, doling out food and clothing and water. Celebratory fires had been lit, and a grand feast would be taking place the following morning.

But Elyta hadn't seemed keen to join in, instead retreating to her hut, her wings drooping as she had lit a few candles, and sat down to wipe her weapons clean of Galra blood. Her younger siblings had been handed off to some kind of grandparent, to relax, but clearly she didn't think she deserved the same.

"How could you do that?" Pidge continued, planting a hand on her hip and glowering when the alien didn't respond or look up. "You left your parents there, you just _left them_  to the Galra, how could you—"

"I did what I had to do," Elyta said, looking up sharply, and Pidge realized she was crying tears of gold. "For the greater good of my people. You think I did not want to save them? I wanted that more than anything. But if I had saved them, hundreds of others would not have gotten their parents back. It was a worthy trade..." Elyta glanced down, and golden tears dripped down her face, clinging to the short black feathers under her eyes. "Even if it hurt."

All the fire went out of Pidge, and she swallowed hard, deflating as she took a seat next to her. "I'm sorry about your family."

Elyta looked at her strangely. "What are you apologizing for? You did nothing wrong."

"It's a... custom on the planet I'm from. When a person loses someone they love, we offer condolences."

Elyta's wings drooped even further, if that was possible. "But I did not lose them... did I? The cruiser was destroyed, but do you think they were crushed—?"

"No," Pidge said firmly. "The commander and any other Galra probably had their own ships and shuttles and escape pods to use, when it became clear the ship wasn't going to make it. They probably took your parents as hostage, or something. They still need feathers, right?"

"Right," she agreed, her voice shaking slightly. Pidge supposed the idea of her parents losing her wings was nearly as terrifying to Elyta as they thought of them being flat out dead.

Pidge placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then all you have to do is find them, and you  _will_  find them. I know you will." She sighed. "I lost my family too. My brother and my father, Matt and Sam Holt. I don't know where they are... they could be anything in the galaxy. But I know the Galra has them. That's why I'm here, and became a paladin. Or it was. So I could look for them."

Elyta glanced at her with a small smile. "And how is that working out for you, green one?"

"Not that well," she admitted. "But I can't give up hope. Because if I do that, then they really are lost."

"So what are you going to do now that you have freed my planet? Search for your family? The... the uh, Bolts?"

"Holts," Pidge corrected softly. "But right now, I need to go find the rest of my friends, so that Voltron can be assembled together. And maybe you join our alliance?" That would be what Allura would want her to ask, right?

"I will gladly join an alliance with you, green one," said Elyta. "Whatever you need to find your fellow paladins, I will provide it."

Pidge nodded her thanks. "Just give me a radio, and a couple hours to figure out the wiring. And..." she looked to the front flap of the tent, where she hoped Lance and Hunk were waiting outside.

It looked like the Garrison trio really was back together again—only this time, they would win.

::::

Her mother's grave was a small thing, really, a simple grey headstone among lush green grass and pink juniberry flowers, easy to miss in the field of flowers if you didn't know where to look for it. Her mother's actual monument was near their Holy Chapel, large and grand in the shape of a smaller thrown, mirrored by her Aunt Ilura's much larger one, made of the same marble. Allura had always preferred her mother's tombstone here than the other in the Chapel. For starters, her mother's ashes were actually buried here, but it was far more personal. Anyone could make a pilgrimage and pay their respects at the Chapel. Only family was allowed to visit this one.

And as an only child and a war orphan, Allura knew she'd never be able to visit either of those places again. This was all she had left. She stopped in front of the grave, breathing deeply. This is the last time she'd get to smell the sweet scent of the juniberries, or look at Altea's magenta sky, or feel the soft breeze on her face that only came after a meteor hail shower had finished the day before.

"Mother."

Allura dropped her to her knees in front of the grave, reaching out to trace the Altean letters spelling out her mother's name, Amara Morigin of the House of the Evening Star. Underneath her transcript were more letters, reading:  _Queen star, sister, mother, wife, friend._

"I promise," she said hoarsely, "I will honour you. I will avenge you. Zarkon will pay for your death, and the death of our planet and our people. He will face justice, and you will finally know peace, and so will the galaxy. I know you always did what was best for our people," she paused. "No matter the personal cost. I wish I could be as strong as you. I wish I could trust in myself, that letting Altea fall, letting people die, is necessary to secure that the future will not become worse than it already is, but... I do not know if I have that strength."

Because what if she changed things, and someone who was supposed to lived died, and someone who was supposed to die live? How much would that things ten thousand years from now? Would the ripple affect even be felt? Or would it be disastrous, and she would go back to a future with no paladins, or Voltron in Zarkon's hands? What if none of the paladins were found? Or worse, what if Shiro was trapped in Galra captivity forever, because of her choices? Or what if it saved everything, and the Galra were defeated? If that was the case, she'd be stuck in cryosleep for even longer... possibly forever, until her body gave out on its own accord, but... Wouldn't it be worth it, if millions and millions of people lived in sacrifice of it?

Allura clasped her fingers together, her knuckles tight. She'd go mad if she stayed here any longer, alone with her thoughts.

She reached beside her and plucked a few juniberry flowers, resting them near the base of the grave, and then stood up to leave. One final sentence was written above, with a lioness etched into the stone.  _Here lies the Red Paladin—long may she roar, and long may she reign_.

Allura may not have been a paladin of Voltron; she may have been a princess without a people or a planet; a queen without a birthright or a crown; a daughter without parents. But she still had her heart, and her strength, and hope. If she could save anyone, she would. But she also wouldn't sacrifice the rest of the universe on the slim chance it might save her people. It wasn't fair, and the world, she knew all too well, wasn't fair either.

Her father had always said that, as leaders, they had to do what was right for their people, even if it meant a great sacrifice. And now he was standing only a few miles away, with no idea that by this time tomorrow he would be dead. Yet she knew that if he knew his death would keep the galaxy as safe as possible from Zarkon for the next ten thousand years, that it would keep Voltron and hope alive, that he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice himself.

The universe was bigger than Altea, even if the war wasn't much bigger than her.

And she had to remember, that perspective, was everything.

::::

"Need some help with that, brother?"

Coran nearly dropped the crystal in his arms. Thora was grinning on the other side of it, as he toddled towards the staircase that led up to the surface and away from the crystal catacombs. Her gingery hair was pulled back in a ponytail that curled upwards at the end like tongues of fire, the blue markings under her eyes similar to her brother's, and all those of noble Altean families.

"Oh, Thora, no—no, I can manage." He hefted the crystal more firmly in his arms, even if it felt like his spine was a second away from snapping. "I'm as strong as a Nalquod!"

Thora smiled fondly, crossing her arms over her blue and white cadet's uniform. "You and I are both aware that your strength is not what it used to be, big brother. Working in the palace has made you soft." She came up on the other side of the crystal, and eased most of it out of his arms, lessening the weight he had to carry.

Coran harrumphed, but let her help him carry it up the stairs. "If I am so soft, then why are you also seeking a palace position?"

"Because I have a wife to provide for, while she waits for an astronomical breakthrough," Thora said, still smiling. A good six years younger, Thora had far less wrinkles around her eyes, and as a cadet in Altea's diplomatic forces, she hadn't see too much of the recent war with the Galra up close, off making alliances with other planets far far away from their system, that had yet to join the Diplomatic Galactic Union that Altea so proudly fostered.

"How is Wyrna?" Coran asked, trying to keep his voice steady. He wanted nothing more than to grab her sister and shove her into an escape pod, maybe her wife too, and get them both to safety. But he had to stay calm, and well, he was Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe—the epitome of calm!

"She's off in the Paglium quadrant, but she radios frequently. And she is making progress with her latest thesis, too, so she should be home soon." Thora sighed wistfully. "Of course, we might not stay on Altea, with the way things are going. I hate the idea of leaving you when I'm so close to securing a position here, but..."

"I think leaving the planet is a smart idea," Coran said quickly. "In fact, why wait? You could leave tonight, and go surprise her."

Thora looked at him skeptically. "I doubt King Alfor will allow me to take even a single ship for such a silly and frivolous journey, at the moment."

"Then don't ask him," Coran tried.

Thora's eyebrows shot up. "Goodness, Coran, what has gotten into you? You abide by the king's every word."

Coran sighed. "Alfor is not always right."

Her brows knit together. "Coran, is... something wrong? Do you know something the rest of us don't? What is King Alfor planning to do?"

"Nothing," said Coran, which was technically the truth. "I just... this is a dangerous time to be on Altea, and I do not want to see you be hurt."

Thora reached around the crystal and squeezed his hand. "I will be fine, brother. If anything it is you I fear for. You will follow the royal family anywhere. To glory or execution."

Coran grasped at her fingers, and never wanted to let go. The crystal thrummed between them, humming with energy. "They are my family too, sister."

"And Alfor is to you what Wyrna is to me," she said simply, and he gave her a shocked look.

"Thora—"

"I've known for some time, brother," Thora said gently, and he forced himself to close his mouth. "But do not worry. I will not tell a soul the reason for your devotion to him. Now, let's get this crystal to wherever you are headed, shall we?"

Coran hid his face behind the crystal, and a tear slid down his cheek. He had never known that Thora had known, much less would be understanding, but he forced down his feelings the way he had seen Alfor and Amara and Allura do a million times, and swallowed hard.

"Yes, little sister," he managed. "Thank you."

They carried the crystal the rest of the way in silence.

::::

The Winged Ones were nice and all, having brought them water and some weird leafy salad to eat (it tasted better than it looked), but Lance was really starting to wish he and Hunk could sit somewhere other than the hard cold ground outside of Elyta's warrior hut.

"She and Pidge have been in there for awhile," Hunk said, a piece of purple leaf poking out of the corner of his mouth as he chewed carefully. "What do you think they're talking about?"

"Who knows?" Lance let his head loll backwards. "Maybe Pidge wants to attach mechanical wings to her paladin suit, or something."

Hunk beamed at him. "Okay, that would actually be pretty cool."

Lance perked up. "What can I say?" he puffed out his chest. "I'm a genius. And so are you."

"I'm just glad you're a better pilot now than you were at the Garrison," Hunk half-teased. "Looks like we can finally call you the tailor, and not just because you literally know how to sew."

Lance pouted slightly. His older sister Susie had always made sure he was more in touch with his 'feminine' side growing up, sewing and face masks included. "Hey, you would have helped me knit those Arusians a sweater too."

"They were pretty cute," Hunk admitted, and he was quiet for a moment, before he said, "Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad I snuck out with you, that last night at the Garrison."

Lance grinned widely, his eyes bright at the revelation. "Well, yeah, of course are you are buddy! But uh... so am I. I don't think I'd be able to do all this without you, and... even if I could, I wouldn't want to."

Hunk's small smile faded, as he turned his eyes to the horizon. Their Lions and their team was still out there, after all. And, even further away, Earth, and their families. "Do you think our moms miss us? Do you think they know what happened to us?"

Lance's expression soured. "I'm sure the Garrison covered it up, the same way they blamed the Kerberos mission on Shiro... but we'll go home some day, and they'll be so excited to see us."

Hunk tried and failed to muster up a smile. "Yeah. They will be." He reached out and pulled Lance into a teary, bone-crushing hug. "At least I still have you."

Lance patted him on the back once he could breathe, and the yellow paladin loosened his hold. "You always will, buddy."

He could still remember Hunk moving in two houses over, past the wrinkly old Wens and the busy Nott family with their newborn baby boy who was too little to do anything fun with—later, the kid had brought in good babysitting money, but at five years old Lance had found him utterly boring. He'd been so excited to have a boy his age, since he was youngest of his family with a decent age gap between him and his older brother and sister. And Hunk had never disappointed him, or let him down, not even once, like when Lance had eaten too much candy on Halloween night, stealing it from his parents' secret stash, and Hunk had stayed with him the whole night instead of going trick-or-treating himself.

Both boys looked up when Pidge and Elyta exited the hut, looking tired but not defeated.

"We need to find the other paladins," Pidge said, glancing over at where the destroyed Galra cruiser lay, broken up across the snowy mountain. "And I think I know just the way to do it."

::::

On the day that Altea fell, it was all of Allura's nightmares exemplified tenfold. She and Coran waited by their castleship, her lungs tightening with every passing breath that she didn't deserve to breathe, knowing what was coming and doing nothing, as fire rained down from the sky. Everything inside her trembled and broke, sharp edges poking and piercing her heart as she forced a shaking hand to bring down the door of their castleship, hidden in a field of mud and flowers that would soon be turned red with Altean blood.

 _For the greater good_ , she reminded herself, as she gripped the frame of the smaller entrance of the castleship to steady herself, before she hauled herself through the door before she could throw up whatever remained in her stomach.

It was an otherworldly experience, to stumble into the main command room of the castleship, as empty as it was whenever the paladins went off into battle, to see the castleship across the way depart from the planet and rise up in the sky, navigating through the Galra brigade. To watch her people turn as small as druinants and then into dots and nothingness, as she lifted their castleship into the air.

One would go to Arus and be a statue for ten thousand years, as the universe was destroyed all around it. The other would go back to the present in hope of salvaging whatever remained of the universe.

It was a bitter, frustrating fate, and she wondered how the gods of old could manage being so cruel.

They swerved under a Galra cruiser as one of the first white arcs that stretched across Altea began to crumble, and other white and blue and yellow ships left the atmosphere, full of soldiers or refugees she wasn't sure.

"I got to say goodbye to Thora," Coran revealed quietly, his cheeks wet with tears as they watched the destruction unfold, lasers colouring the air in angry flashes of purple and red.

"I got to say goodbye to mother," she replied, just as quietly.

It seemed in turn of letting go of one regret, they had gained one back in turn as they watched their homeland burn, when their ship jolted and nearly knocked Allura off of her steering pedestal.

"By the Ancients!" Coran spluttered, grabbing the nearest empty paladin chair to regain his balance.

"We'll have to fire back," Allura said, pulling up screens to ready the guns.

"We're not supposed to change anything—"

"If we don't defend ourselves, we won't survive to use Altea's explosion in the first place!" she snapped back, and began firing on the ship who had aimed at them. It was a smaller, sleeker vessel, and she could see how much the Galra technology of the present had improved, but how here, it and the castle were on equal ground, again. It was a strangely reassuring thought, as the castle's updated lasers (largely thanks to Hunk and Pidge's tinkering) blasted the battleship to bits.

The explosion rocked the castle ship uneasily, as more ships sped by them and almost any and all Altean ones were destroyed no matter how hard they tried to escape.

A sleek Galra fighter sped right on by, guns whirring as it fired at a fleeing Altean ship, and her legs weakened when more guns popped up from the fighter's backside, firing at them. On instinct, her fingers curled into tight fists, and lasers streamed from the castleship, causing the fighter to explode. There was a shattering echo was the fleeing Altean ship created and disappeared inside a wormhole, as she saw the logo on the side streak within the warp: a lion etched into the side with white paint.

She hoped it wouldn't disturb the future too much, as she drew up the castle's weakened particle barrier anyway.

"Princess, look!"

Her attention snapped to Coran, and she followed his line of sight. Allura's stomach churned when he realized what he was pointing to: it was the castleship of the original timeline, and she watched, powerless, torn between remembrance and imagination to fill in the blanks. Any second now, her past self would be sealed away in the cryosleep for ten thousand years against her will, and shortly afterwards, Coran would join her.

Had Alfor forced him too, she wondered, her throat tight. Or had Coran gone willingly?

"Coran—"

"We have to ready the ship, princess," he said worriedly, and she brushed her concerns aside; there'd be time for that later.

But for now, Coran was right. If their past selves were only seconds away from being placed in cryosleep, than they were only seconds away from the deafening explosion of Altea.

She felt the familiar energy thrum through her veins, as she channelled her quintessence into creating a wormhole, and one began to glow to life, blue against the fiery backdrop of Altea as it burned, and then—

The force of the explosion nearly sent her sprawling, but she kept her head clear. They had to get back home, to the paladins, to the Lions—her heart clenched— _to Shiro_ —and she yelled as she connected her and the castle's energy to the dying planet's. The wormhole formed fully, blue tinged with red and yellow, and it turned black and white as she willed the castleship forward, and they glided inside. The exit shut behind them immediately, spiralling arcs of electricity coming off the castle ship in waves, alarms blaring, and there was a headache building in the back of her mind, splitting her eyes apart in pain as she wielded them shut, and then—

Quiet, dark space enveloped them, stars twinkling serenely, as the wormhole they had exited was zapped from existence.

"Coran?" she croaked, broken lights flashing around the command room. Her advisor was on the floor, groaning. "Coran!"

"I'm fine, princess," he mumbled, crawling to the nearest command board. "Just...need to...check the year."

If she had overshot by even a year, or worse, come back a year too soon (who knew how the fabric of space and time would handle having two Allura and two Corans simultaneously in existence?) they were doomed. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, and Allura forced her eyes open, even as her headache continued to throb.

"We... we're back to the present. A day from where we were," Coran reported, his voice lifting in relief and joy. "We—we did it, princess!"

"Yes..." she said weakly, placing a hand on her head. Back to a future where their planet was destroyed, and the galaxy was locked in a terrible war, and their paladins were still lost. Back to Shiro, who hopefully hadn't succumbed to the injuries he'd sustained from Zarkon's witch. She forced herself to continue. "We did."

::::

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is the last of the "Across the Universe" arc, the next one will be made clear/announced in the next chapter, as for which the content of which is gonna be kept a little under wraps for now, so I hope you guys are hyped! Thank you for reading and comments really make my day and encourage me to keep writing, so I would LOVE to hear your thoughts. I also have a tumblr blog dedicated to this fic at "voltron-fix-it-fic" which has loads more details and graphics and stuff revolving around this fic, if you guys are interested.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day!


	4. Shiro's Escape I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now reunited as a team, the paladins and princess of Voltron seek to make sense of their separation, and determine the source of Zarkon’s continued pursuit of them. Disagreements of leadership threaten to tear the team’s strongest pair apart as new allies and enemies emerge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: my use of earth time and altean time (hours VS vargas, etc.) will probably be pretty sporadic. i know in the previous chapter i was using hours, and in this one i'm using vargas, so yeah just... bear with me. i'll try to figure out which one i'm going to stick with. Lil guide here:
> 
> vargas = hours  
> quintants = days

ARC II: The Traitor

CHAPTER FOUR: Shiro's Escape  
(Part One)

::::

By the time the radio was done, Lance had returned with the Lions, now fully functioning. Pidge felt Green hum somewhere in the reaches of her subconscious, and grinned. That was more like it. Green could now scan the crashed Galra cruiser for any signs of life (hopefully, Elyta's parents, if indeed they had escaped the crash) and now not only did she and Hunk and Lance have a way off this planet, they had a real way of finding the rest of the team, too.

"By channelling the energy of the Lions' quintessence, we can make this signal go far further out from our initial standing point," she explained, taking the nearest plug and cramming into a crevice in the Yellow Lion's paw. Hunk looked a tad apprehensive. "Hopefully, it'll reach one of the others, or someone who can help us find them."

"And you're sure the surge of energy won't fry our radio?" he asked, and laid a hand on his lion's paw. "Or hurt my lion?"

"She'll be fine," Pidge assured him. "As for frying our radio, I believe I've correctly correlated the transition of power from the wires, to the—"

"So what you mean," Lance cut in, "is that you have no clue?"

Pidge gave him a dry stare, but relented. "Yes. Unfortunately."

"Well I guess if worse comes to worse," Hunk said, "we can always just leave Hootowling and go to a planet where they'll have a radio so that we can contact the others. I know Allura said something about wormholes only have a thousand galaxy radius, or something. The others can't have gone too too far. Unless, y'know, the witch lady's magic warped it, and then..." he trailed off and gulped. "Let's just try the radio."

"We should really come up with a better name for her," said Lance thoughtfully, as Pidge finished rigging up the radio.

"What's wrong with witch lady?" Hunk pouted.

"Nothing, buddy nothing, but don't we want something with you know, pizazz? She's Zarkon's right hand lady after all."

"Witch lady suits her just fine, Lance," said Pidge sourly. "Although Shiro might know her actual name. We can ask him when we make contact with him, if you're so worried."

"I'm not  _worried_ —" Lance paused. "Well, I  _am_ , but not about the witch. I'm worried about Keith and Shiro and Allura and Coran. I mean, they're all gonna be okay, aren't they?"

"We'll find out soon enough," Pidge reminded him. "Now help me hook up the lion. We need all hands on deck."

::::

The castleship's systems had been slowly coming back to life, caught in the middle of a night cycle when Allura and Coran had finally gotten everything booted up again. They got the replacement crystal in at the power core, and then Coran went to go check what year they were in, and—thankfully—they were in the right one, even if they were in the wrong quadrant, galaxies away from Zarkon's main command, which was both a blessing and a curse. At least they would have time before having to worry about Galra sentries, but on the other hand... who knew how far away all their paladins were.

Her hands went limp against the keyboard of her hologram, restless and knowing she was too tired to use her quintessence to look for the lions, that in a day or two when she was ready might be too late—she wasn't one to agree with Coran, but she could barely keep her eyes open, and knew for once that he was right. If she tried to do anything else, she might pass out and never wake up, and then she wouldn't be any good to anyone.

She let the keyboard dissolve, and shuffled forwards towards the closest chair: Shiro's, always in plain sight when she was piloting or giving orders. She sank into it, sighing.

She wished he was here. He knew what it was like to be responsible for the others, whereas Coran was mostly only responsible for her. Not that he didn't love the rest of the team, too, but... it was different. Often times she had felt like she was catapulting between two different types of loneliness, one as one of the two leaders of Voltron, and the other as one of the two remaining Alteans in the universe. Having Coran and Shiro by her side had made things bearable, which had made sense, because Coran had been beside her nearly her entire life, acting as a second father, a royal advisor...

Shiro, by comparison, she had only known for maybe six months. Why did his absence sting so sharply?

"— _Al...an—can you—Coran—Prince—_ "

The sounds coming from their feed were staticky, fading in and out at best, but Allura shot to her feet, pulling up a hologram and amplifying the sound, her fingers dancing across the keypad, trying to hone in on the signal. There was no mistaking that voice.

Pidge was calling out to them.

"Pidge?" she cried over the monitor. Every second her scanner took to locate the signal made her fear it would disappear entirely. " _Pidge, can you hear me_?"

"—lura? Allura, are you there?"

"I'm here, Pidge." Relief broke over her, as Allura didn't know what she would have done if something had happened to her youngest paladin. They weren't particularly close, but from what she understood, Pidge's mother was already all alone back on Earth, and she was determined the woman would at the very least get her daughter back at the end of all this. "Where are you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Pidge said joyfully. "I'm with Hunk and Lance and they're okay too—"

Allura sent up a prayer to the Ancients, and then brought up another hologram, hooking up the signal with

"We're on the planet of Hootowling, our radio is plugged into to the Yellow Lion—can you find—"

"Sure can, Number Five," Coran said, speeding into the room and typing away, narrowing down the search results by typing in key words: Wylo, Hootowling, spikes in quintessence. "I'm honing in on your signal now—luckily we're not too far away Wylo quadrant—we'll be over in a tick—"

"Is Shiro with you?" Allura asked hopefully. One less journey to make, one less paladin to find.

"No," said Pidge, faltering. "He's not with you?"

"Or Keith?" Lance butted in.

"I'm sure they'll be fine as long as they have each other," said Coran cheerfully, his screen glowing green as it locked onto the quintessence of the Yellow Lion.

"But isn't Shiro injured?" Hunk said tartly, and Allura remembered that he had been there too, to help her save Shiro from that awful witch.

"Oh, well, yes," Coran faltered.

A tightness formed in Allura's chest chest. Keith, although impulsive, had apparently lived in one of the harshest Earthen terrains on his own for awhile. He would most likely be okay. But Shiro... maybe he was running out of time. She swallowed hard.

"We are going to find him," she said, injecting confidence into her voice. "First, Pidge, we're going to come get the three of you. Then, I'll find the Black Lion's quintessence, and we can find Shiro." It didn't matter how weak she felt right now; she'd find the strength somehow. She couldn't let Shiro die all because he'd decided to be stupidly noble and rescue her.

For the first time beyond her time in captivity, she let her brain wander, to what would have happened if she had remained Zarkon's prisoner. Perhaps he would have publicly executed her, or sent her to the rumoured gladiator ring. He would have stripped her of all dignity, surely. Possibly experimented on by his witch, and turned into one of those monstrous beasts made of blood and metal. Maybe, if the team had waited longer, she would have come back with only one arm too.

Allura swallowed hard, closing her eyes for a moment. She couldn't dwell on what ifs, on the past, when what was happening right now was so crucial to all of their futures. She let her fingers fall away from the keyboard.

"Coran," she said, "you have Pidge's signal?"

"Loud and clear, princess," he reported. "We've locked onto all three Lions, and should be there by the start of tomorrow's daycycle. I know you'd usually wormhole us there, but," he turned slightly stern, twisting his mustache around one finger, "you've been pushing yourself awfully hard lately. You should use this time to rest."

For once, she didn't feel like putting up an argument. "You're right," she said, and he blinked in surprise.

"I am?"

She shuffled past him, her limbs feeling like lead. "Make sure the signal stays strong, and if anything happens, wake me up from my slumber. I do not want to miss anything important."

"Of course not, princess."

She already knew he had no intention of waking her up, unless the castle alarms did it for him, but left the bridge room anyway. She walked past the paladin's hallway, all their rooms collecting dust, her mother's memorial room, sealed shut, her father's empty AI chamber, before finally coming to her bedroom. She took off her battle suit and pulled on soft, worn pajamas, sighing in relief as she untucked her hair from the back of her nightgown, her fingers travelling up to her circlet, lingering.

It had been her mother, the queen's, and she hadn't taken it off, not once, since her mother had died, but... she didn't want to be royalty, now. She just wanted to be a sad, scared young woman without the weight of the universe on her shoulders, with no family and no people and no paladins.

Her fingers fell away, and the circlet stayed on, as Allura pursed her lips. When had she ever gotten what she wanted?

She had never been more exhausted, but it still took hours for her to finally fall asleep.

::::

Winged aliens with feathers around wide, yellow eyes clustered around the Castleship after it landed. Coran had heard of them before, some vague memory far back in the castle's database, but was too consumed with anticipation to see his paladins again to care too much. Hopefully the Winged Ones had treated them nicely, as the castle doors seemed to take an eternity to enter—or something that felt like another ten thousand years, while being conscious this time.

He bounded down the ship's loading plank, spotting Hunk and Lance first, and then Pidge wedged in between them, and scooped all three of them into a bone crushing hug; Allura wasn't the only one with some super Altean strength, after all. "Oh quiznak, how I've missed you!" he cried tearfully.

Pidge slipped out of his grasp first, patting her ribs. "Missed you too," she puffed out, regaining use of her lungs.

"Oops, sorry Number Five. I got a bit ahead of myself." Coran dropped Lance and Hunk back onto their feet as well. "I can't tell you how pleased I am that your signal got through!"

"I know the princess missed me," Lance said, sidling up to Allura, and she was so glad to see him she couldn't even muster up an eye roll.

"I'm glad that you are alright too, Lance," she said. "All of you. And that this planet wasn't too hostile towards you."

"The Galra were," said Hunk. "But the locals were nice and really helpful."

"Which reminds me," Pidge turned to Allura, "there's something I have to take care of on this planet before we can leave. My Lion is conducting a scan of the Galra warship, and—"

"Pidge, we do not have time to stay on this planet for any longer than necessary," said Allura shortly. "I understand you want to look for your family, but we must locate—"

"It's not for my family. One of warriors, Elyta, is trying to see if her family died in the crash or escaped."

Allura blinked, but set her jaw. "And that is an honourable offer, Pidge, but we do not have time for such a thing. Shiro was injured in a battle with Zarkon's witch and he may not have much time left. We need to locate him as soon as possible, or we may lose him."

Pidge squared her green shoulders. "Shiro wouldn't leave someone who helped him in the dust like this. He'll be okay. He saved my brother Matt and survived the arena, and he has the Black Lion."

"Yeah, princess," said Hunk, amid the relief his Lion was no longer hooked up to Pidge's radio. "Besides, Pidge already started the scan and it's nearly complete, it'll only take another varga."

"A varga you can use to rest, princess," Coran added. "So that you can more efficiently locate Shiro once you've awaken."

For a mad moment Allura nearly snapped at all three of them, until Pidge's words sank in, and her anger faded. She knew what type of man Shiro was—even if in this moment, she didn't like it. "Yes, Pidge, you're right. I...we will wait another varga," she said reluctantly, still frowning. Part of her wanted to mingle among the local Winged Ones, but she went up to the castle instead and paced in her bedroom until the varga was up.

He had to survive, least of all to keep the guilt from breaking Pidge. He had to.

::::

The sun broke red and faint over the grey hills, as Shiro was roused from his sleep by another wave of pain from the pulsing wound in his side. The fire they'd built had died, and Keith—after insisting on keeping watch—had finally passed out and was snoring softly, but Shiro couldn't fault him for it. He knew the Lions would look after them too.

Especially Black. He still hadn't thanked her properly for saving him. What sort of paladin was he?

He pushed himself to his feet, listening for a moment for any sound of the growling creatures, and finding none, limped his way over to the Black Lion, one arm curled over his injury, the other resting on her mighty paw. "Thanks girl," he croaked. "You really saved me back there."

He reached out for the familiar mental tether, a rumbling of warmth and vague colours projected in his mind, and found strangely nothing. Had he done something wrong? Had Zarkon's attempt to reclaim her done more damage than he'd thought... Had Black even wanted to leave Zarkon in the first place?

"Shiro?" He looked back at Keith, who was ambling over to him with a disapproving frown. He looked as worn out as Shiro felt. "You shouldn't be walking around like this, you—hey... Is that—"

Shiro turned around, following Keith's line of vision, and was sure that the pain was making him hallucinate. How could that be the castleship gliding towards them, the blue glow of the wormhole already fading? But no, Keith was seeing it too, as wide eyed as he was as the castle descended, radiating heat and power and stirring up the dust as it slowly landed with a clank against the stone. It was  _real_.

For the first time since Zarkon's witch had choked him with a hand too unlike his own, Shiro felt like he could trust his own eyes again.

The castleship doors opened, and the Paladins ran down the ramp in a mess of grins and blue and yellow and green. Their shouts of joy only grew louder when they realized Keith was there too, and Shiro could feel the hum of their Lions sealed safely away in the castle, until Pidge slamming into his ribs pulled him back to reality, and he ruffled the smaller paladin's hair.

"Thank God you're okay!" she cried, tears in her eyes as her grin pressed against his chest and battered lungs.

Shiro chuckled softly, before letting out an  _oof_  as Hunk and Lance mirrored her in a four way hug. "I could say the same thing to you guys."

Lance let go and got Hunk to join in on pulling Keith into a hug, even as he squirmed against them, and Shiro smiled as Pidge joined in until Keith gave up and gave his teammates a small smile despite himself. "It's good to have you back," he said.

"It's good to be back, Number Three," Coran told Keith cheerfully, popping up beside them.

Something in Shiro's brain registered, amid the pain and happiness, that if Coran was here, than that meant...

"Allura."

She was rushing down the ramp too, slightly unkempt hair from her bun falling in her eyes as she beamed at him, at all of them, but she seemed unharmed, if tired. (He hadn't had a chance to check if she was hurt or not while escaping central command, in all the chaos.) She ran towards him, and went to throw her arms around him, halfway through before thinking better of it, her arms outstretched as hesitation passed over her face, and he gladly stepped into them, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist, and her hands tentatively, and then tightly, fell to his shoulder blades.

"I was worried we wouldn't find you in time," she mumbled, and his smile softened, even as she pulled away, looking rather embarrassed and thankfully, completely, unharmed.

"It takes more than a glowing alien wound and a fall from the upper atmosphere, to get rid of me, princess."

"Yes," Allura gave him a fond smile, turning towards where Pidge and the boys were all talking excitedly to one another, "Pidge was thinking along similar lines, too."

Shiro smiled until a pang of pain flared from his wound, and he clamped a hand over it, gritting his teeth.

"Shiro, are you alright?" she said worriedly, placing her hands on her shoulders. She could remember the way she'd helped him up from the floor after shooting down Haggar, the way his hand had slid up to cradle hers as she helped him down the hallway, his palm warm and shaking. Now, she hoped to steady him.

"Fine..." Another wave of pain hit him, and he winced. "But a cryopod might be a good idea," he admitted.

"Of course." She raised her head to look at Coran, and barked, "Get everyone and the Lions onboard! We should get Shiro into a cryopod. Now."

::::

_As a fighter, and a leader, you give hope. Hurry, Earth needs you! We all do._

Shiro woke up with all the grace of two trains colliding on a single track. The cryopod's walls gave way and he stumbled out, steadied just in time by Hunk, who hefted his weight up. "Whoa, Shiro—you alright there buddy?"

"Fine," he croaked, raising a palm to his temple. "Just...fuzzy. I think—" He thought of Ulaz, pale purple,  _Galra_ ; the similar fuzziness of the injection (he didn't want to think what the Galra had been planning to do to him next), a gambit to find Voltron by releasing the Champion from his captors... being hurled into an escape pod. Again. "—llura—Princess—" His thoughts were tripping after one another, but he knew if he wanted any hope of understanding what he'd seen, of decoding the coordinates Ulaz had supposedly put in his arm, he needed to let her know what was at stake.

"I'm here, Shiro," the princess said, voice soft and soothing, as Hunk helped him into a sitting position on the steps, and his vision cleared as he looked up at her, concern etched onto her face. "What is it?"

"I had a dream. A memory." He rubbed at his eyes. "I... get my arm hooked up to a scanner. Now."

The team scrambled to fulfill the request, Hunk and Pidge getting the equipment set up in the tech hangar, while Allura helped Shiro walk over to it, Lance, Coran, and especially Keith, hovering nervously, as Shiro explained what he had seen best he could, even as the details of the dream slipped through his fingers like sand, and Allura's frown deepened as he spoke, even as she helped him into his chair and Pidge plugged his arm up to her scanner.

"Are you sure this wasn't just a dream?" Lance said skeptically.

"I'm positive," Shiro said, trying not to be tart. It had taken a long time to learn when to trust his mind, and when not to, but he had never felt so sure something was real like this. He didn't need any room for doubt to start sprouting. "Someone helped me escape."

"And he was Galra?" Allura asked, barely holding back a scowl, eyes hard in disbelief.

"Yes." He tore his eyes away from Pidge's glowing, coded screen, and frowned at her. He hadn't had much time to think about her technical betrayal—of not telling him Zarkon was the Black Paladin—but a rush of rage came sweeping in. She'd never told him that the witch who took his arm had been working for the greatest threat to the galaxy, that Zarkon had sat in his seat, had piloted his Lion, had nearly successfully stolen it back from him with no warning. How could she do that to him?

"You know you cannot trust them."

His metal fingers curled into a fist. "Your father must have trusted them once," he snapped. "Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?" Shiro almost regretted it the second he said it, because it was a low blow, and they both knew it, because no one except maybe Coran had suffered more from trusting Zarkon, from blindly trusting a paladin of Voltron, that Allura had seen her people and planet burn because of that misplace trust, but he couldn't find it in him to apologize.

Her eyes widened, mouth ajar, before her surprise (or hurt?) faded into something of guilt and shame. "That was a long time ago," she muttered, avoiding his angry gaze, and a pang of regret flickered in his chest.

"Wait, what?" Lance spluttered, and everyone else looked just as shocked, before Keith reverted to anger and crossed his arms over his chest, giving Allura a fierce glower.

"Well, yeah," he said sharply. "Didn't you see how he stole the Black Lion right out from under Shiro? Or that he could do all that cool stuff with his bayard?  _Shiro's bayard_? You know, the black one?

Allura grit her teeth, and Shiro saw a stony calm struggle to settle over her face. "Pidge," she said, composing herself, "have you gotten all the information you can from Shiro's arm?"

"For now, yes." The Green Paladin was rapidly typing away. "I have to work on decoding everything... I guess whoever freed Shiro really didn't want anyone but him finding the coordinates, since I've never seen this level of encryption before. It's too complicated for me to even colour code; I mean, what's the Galra's problem? We're not animals."

"Then Shiro," she said tartly, "may I have a word with you? In _private_?"

Shiro took out the cord from his arm, and stood up, frowning. "Of course, princess," he said, his voice clipped.

They walked side by side without touching to the closest adjourning hangar of the lions, over to where the Blue one stood, stoic and silent, as the door swished shut behind them. Shiro turned around to face her, and met her hard stare with one of her own, his hands clenching into fists.

There were so many things he wanted to say, all of them getting stuck in his throat until he burst, after a tense beat of silence, "Why didn't you just tell us the truth about Zarkon?" He didn't give her a chance to respond before he added, "Why didn't you tell  _me_?"

Allura looked up at him miserably, guilt written all over her face, even as her spine remained as unbending as always. "I wanted to protect you," she began, pausing, "from the dark history of the paladins... so that you would have a chance to bond with your lion on your own. Do you honestly think you would have even been willing to touch the Black Lion at first, if you had known the truth? Would you have bonded with her so readily? Would you have let her into your mind so easily?"

The last thing he wanted to do was admit she had a point, so he stayed silent, and she continued, her voice softening and growing firm at the same time, strong in the belief of what she was saying. "I knew from the beginning that you were a prisoner of Zarkon, and that you were the perfect fit for the Black Lion, that you were worthy to be her paladin. The others, I had doubts of, but you, never. I knew from the start that you were the decisive head Voltron needed—and you still are.  _You_  are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon."

"Yeah, well, the Black Lion may have a different take on the matter," he muttered.

Allura's brow furrowed as he avoided her eyes. "What makes you say that?"

"When we came to rescue you, we formed Voltron, but Zarkon ripped us apart." His voice softened. "He took the Black Lion right out from under me. He could have gotten the Black Lion right then and there, since I didn't know," his anger flared right back up, "since you hadn't told me—"

"You never should have come to rescue me in the first place," Allura shot back, upset and now more mad than guilty.

"What else were we supposed to do? Leave you there to die?"

"Zarkon wouldn't have killed me—"

"You don't know that—"

"I would have survived—"

"You don't know that either—there are things in that prison worse than death, princess! Things that will make you  _wish_  you were dead! I said I wouldn't leave you and I meant it—I was supposed to protect  _you_ , and you wouldn't have left me! You wouldn't."

"Without you, the team cannot form Voltron!"

"And without you, we can barely traverse the galaxy! The team needs you as much as it needs me! I need—" He stopped short, his breath tight and controlled as he looked at the floor, and then up at her, his hands still curled into fists, but more composed now. "Look, Allura, I know that you're skeptical that this lead will actually  _lead_  to anything. But it's the first one I've ever gotten. I need—I want to know, whatever I can. You know better than anyone else what it's like to wake up and have nothing but missing blanks. This is my chance to maybe fill in one of those blanks. Please..."

Allura's eyes softened, even if her frown deepened. "We'll see where it goes," she relented. "And as for the Black Lion, we will... figure out what to do when the time comes. For now, everyone should be resting. You especially." She slowly walked up to him, and just as she started to pass him, she paused by his side, and placed a hand on his shoulder, where metal met flesh. He was warm and cold to her touch. "And Shiro..." her voice was almost gentle now. "I do not want you to be too disappointed if this does not turn out the way you wish. The Galra play many games with the mind."

He conjured up the image of the witch, impersonating the worst of himself, and then blinked it away from his mind's eye. "I know."

::::

It took an entire quintant for Pidge's scanner to reap results, and in the meantime, Allura wandered the castle and thought of Altea. The rest of the paladins were sleeping, as Pidge and Hunk had hooked her scanner up to an encryption code that would run without supervision until it yielded results, both equally exhausted, Lance was never one to pass up beauty sleep and had headed in before anyone else, and the training deck was void of both Keith and Shiro (she'd checked on the latter using security cameras, just to make sure he'd actually gone to his room when he'd said he would). Coran was doing last minute checks to the new crystal they'd installed to replace the depleted one, which had been taken to one of the rooms set aside for Pidge's research, to see if there was anything useful that could be found.

She didn't expect to find Lance in the observatory room, looking up at holographic stars that cast blue shadows over his face.

"Mind if I join you?"

He turned, startled from his sitting position, but she eased him back down with a wave of his hand, walking to sit down next to him. "Sorry, princess," he said, scrambling for something to boast about. His eyes were rimmed with red, if it wasn't the light playing tricks on her eyes. "I just... couldn't quite doze off. I have amazing stamina!"

"I can see that," she said dryly. His eyes travelled back up to a cluster of planets, the name of one popping up, the Altean name translating to  _Terra_. "What planet is that?" she asked, trying for a smile once his faded, "you seem particularly interested in it."

"Oh." He paused. "That's Earth."

"I see." Her lips thinned. "You miss it."

"It's hard not to," he admitted quietly. "But mostly I miss my family. Hunk does too," she got the sense the two had talked about it at length, as well, and she was more grateful than ever that the bond between two of her paladins had come so easily, stability in a chaotic world, "and Pidge has her mom back home... but I don't know if Shiro does. I don't know if he or Keith even have families."

"Everyone had one, once. They just might not remember. Or may not have met." She'd had an aunt she'd never met, her mother's sister who had died before she was born, but they shared a name save for two letters, Ilura becoming Allura in honour of her.

"Do you really think Shiro's dream was more than well, a dream?"

"I'm not sure. But he does. That's enough for me to trust him."

Lance was quiet for another moment, before he asked, "Why didn't you tell us Zarkon was the Black Paladin?" It wasn't an accusation, but simply a curious inquiry, and her tired soul was grateful for it too.

"To the universe, Altea has been gone for 10,000 years. To me, when I came out of the cryopod and you caught me... I do apologize for insulting your ears, but they did take me by surprise... to me it has only been a few months. Altea had only just fallen when I was sealed away. Zarkon had only turned a few weeks beforehand. None of us saw it coming. None of us had thought a paladin of Voltron could become something so monstrous."

"And my old paladin? What were they like?"

She smiled at the question. "Sarli? They were Galra, but they were a good person. Very jovial, and loyal, much like yourself. They had a daughter with their wife, named Marmora, who was a few years younger than I. I do not know if, or when, they fell. Where they are buried, if they were given a burial at all." Her smile faded. "I do not even know what side they were on when the time came. If they stood by my father...or by Zarkon." She sighed. "I know you did not sign up for a lifetime of fighting in space, nor for leaving your families, but you are a good paladin, Lance. We're lucky to have you. From what the others have told me, you are the one who unlocked the Blue Lion from the beginning, and allowed all of you to come to the castle in the first place."

"Well I am pretty great," he said, puffing out his chest. "But... thanks Allura. That means a lot coming from you."

Her smile returned, softer and smaller. Fatigue was finally weighing on her. Maybe it would be a good idea to get some sleep too, as she got to her feet, and Lance followed her lead. "Do you have anymore questions, before I retire for the night?" The castle's day cycle would begin again in a few vargas, after all.

"Just one." Lance's face was solemn, as the blue glow of earth and the constellations faded away. "There were a lot of times the past few days, when we were all separated... or when I wasn't sure if we were gonna make it out of Zarkon's central command, that I thought—where I wondered if I'd ever get to go home again... do you think I ever will?"

She thought of Altea, and something inside her fractured. She wanted to tell him everything. About going home, for the last time, about her father's goodbye and her mother's grave and seeing her planet destroyed, again. But it wasn't the time or the place, and he was just a boy, barely an adult, and she swallowed hard and put on a smile.

"I'll make sure you will."

Lance smiled, bright and believing, and Allura stayed there, staring at the unblinking stars through the observatory windows, far colder and far more real than the holograms that tried to imitate them, long after he'd gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: one last little tidbit in regards to Sarli, they are nonbinary and use they/them and he/him pronouns. happy reading and hope you enjoyed!


	5. Shiro's Escape II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro trusts Ulaz, Allura trusts Shiro, and the hints of canon divergence truly begin.

ARC II: The Traitor

CHAPTER FIVE: Shiro's Escape II

::::

Pidge called them to the Green Lion's hangar shortly after a breakfast of goo and something that could be described as alien pancakes. "My scanner finally pulled something through, since before breakfast I added one of my personal encryption codes, and well... I found some repeating numbers in all this Galra code, and extracted it, and it seems like coordinates. They lead here: the Thaldycon system."

Shiro straightened up from her screen, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Then that's where we're headed.

"Shiro, are you sure this isn't a trap?" Hunk asked.

"Yeah," Keith agreed, brow furrowing over his dark bangs. "After everything the Galra has done to you... they took your  _arm_."

"It's worth the risk," Shiro said decidedly. He knew that despite his cousin's hotheadedness, "Someone helped me escape. If we can locate some allies in our fight against Zarkon, especially ones from his own side, we might find a way to take him down, only from the inside, but across the whole empire."

"We can check the location," Allura commended, taking a copy of Pidge's coordinates to plug into the mainframe of the castle. "But I do not like this."

Shiro rose to meet her stride as they all headed out of the hangar, and managed an appreciative smile. "I know."

The ship teleported to the Thaldycon System with little resistance, even if he knew, like always, creating a wormhole did drain Allura, especially with how tired they had all been since getting separated. Still, Shiro was wide awake as the ship floated near what looked like a massive cluster of strange blue and green rocks that largely resembled meteors, if they didn't glitter so much. Maybe it was the astronaut in him, but he couldn't hope to get a little closer, if only to look for the answers he so badly wanted.

"Well, this is it," said Coran, sounding vaguely disappointed at how anticlimactic it all was. "No sign of any activity at all, living or otherwise.

"Can we get in there to take a closer look?" Shiro asked.

"I don't want to bring the Castle any closer," he said, even if Allura was at the helm. "Those xanthorium chunks contain highly unstable nitrate salts. Even bumping one of them can blow us straight to Wozblay."

Shiro frowned, slightly. This was the one lead he had. It couldn't just be a bunch of dangerous rocks. It had to lead  _somewhere_  instead of back into the hellhole his head often became. "Are you sure this is right?"

"These are the coordinates Number Five gave me."

"Hey!" Pidge spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest. "My decryption is solid."

Of that, Shiro had no doubt. Pidge was one of the smartest people, and decoders, he knew, and not just because it ran in the family. She'd done things with alien technology her brother and father (and mother, by extension) had never even dreamed of. "There must be something we're missing," he managed, feeling ashamed and desperate that he was more or less grasping at straws. This wasn't what a strong leader was supposed to do, but... perhaps he wasn't being completely selfish, if this really could lead them to allies within Zarkon's own empire.

"We should get out of here," Allura said decidedly. "We've checked it out, but now, it's time to move on."

That had been their deal, after all, but something twisted in his gut. "No. There must be something more to this." There had to be. "I can feel it. I think we should wait."

He knew it was a pathetic excuse, to ask her to stay (and possibly put their lives at risk) all based on his gut feeling, and he didn't dare look around to see the hardness of her face that would surely be there. His shoulders sagged slightly, when he felt the ship shudder slightly to a halt, and drift, her hands lazily held above the steering spheres.

He thanked his lucky stars that she trusted him with this, even if she hadn't trusted him with the secret of the Black Lion. Maybe he had been too hard on her.

He looked back over his seat, and caught her eye.  _Thank you, princess._

She swallowed tightly, visibly, and said nothing, but she let the ship sit there, anyway, and that was what mattered. Until the castle alarm went off, anyway.

::::

Ulaz had been with the Blades of Marmora for a long time, ever since he was a young, upcoming cadet in his first year of mandatory military service, like all Galra from his home-colony of Triyx, when another cadet in his squadron named Thace Maala had pulled him into the closest empty corridor, and explained it all. It had shocked him at first that Kolivan Maala, model student and almost graduated soldier, could be a rebel, of all things... and perhaps that was part of the appeal. What, after all, could make one so talented and praised betray the very empire that gave them their status? What, more importantly, could make someone so fearless as to defy the emperor himself?

And who was he, a lowly Kyrak, to deny the summons of two upper class Yuraks, both belonging to the Maala family no less?

And now here he was, decafeebs later, breaking into this strange floating castle that had dared drift near his base. Kolivan wouldn't like it—would tell him not to engage, as the base was hidden and couldn't be found anyway, but Ulaz didn't like sitting idly by when it was far easier and simpler to engage. Not many people would come this far out in the Thaldycon system just to explore, and besides... the ship wasn't Galra. And there was a reason Thace had been chosen (because, or despite, Kolivan's wishes) for the undercover mission in Zarkon's central command instead of him.

It would be easy enough. The ship was clearly old, large and not very thin, and therefore susceptible to the rather unknown xanthorium clusters behind him. He could easily lure them in and make them blow themselves up if the need arose, and there were enemies rather than harmless travellers. He didn't think they were friends.

Ever since he'd joined the Blade, he'd lost more friends than he'd gained, in more ways than one. But that was alright. It was for the good of the galaxy. Deep down, he was still a Galra soldier, even if it was with a Marmora mindset.

Knowledge, victory, or death.

Or sometimes, both.

::::

At first, Shiro had been glad when he and Allura had charged down the hallways together to go take down the intruder it seemed the rest of their team couldn't. (Did Coran seriously think his commentating was helping?) He was glad the princess would have his back, when he knew he had overextended his reach, his glowing galra hand at the intruder's throat, but without any more reach to strike the finishing blow, unlike the purple disguised alien, who's sword could easily come down onto his chest. He'd been glad until their mask had fallen away, revealed a pale purple but familiar face—"Ulaz?"—and Allura had slammed him hard against the nearest wall.

He was just glad she'd listened to him (again) even if she'd insisted on putting Ulaz in handcuffs while escorting him to the lounge alongside Shiro and the rest of the paladins.

"I don't think this is necessary," said Shiro, a tad sullen, but Allura just crossed her arms over her chest, her jaw set, and he knew the conversation was over.

"I will not have some _quiznakking_  Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!"

"If I wanted to kill you," Ulaz said, "you'd be dead already."

Shiro took a tiny step in front of her, frowning. Clearly Ulaz wasn't a diplomat by any means, and while he didn't think the alien would attack them, he also wasn't willing to bet that Ulaz's supposed loyalty to him would extend to the rest of his team, especially Allura. The Galra had wiped out her people and tried to kill her, after all.

"Are you Galra threats supposed to win my trust?" she asked, her voice hard.

"I'm not trying to win your trust," Ulaz said gruffly. "I'm trying to win a war. And, because of Shiro, we are closer than we've ever been. Our gamble on you paid off better than we could have ever imagined. We knew you were the Champion, but we never imagined you'd be the Black Paladin of Voltron, too."

Shiro softened, but still watched him warily. There had always been the possibility that Ulaz had just been a Galra who had disobeyed orders by setting him free, but still loyal to Zarkon, perhaps deciding that even if no one believed him about the location of the Blue Lion, he would send Shiro anyway, as a guinea pig (or whatever the Galra equivalent was). He could have been lying, but somehow, looking at him again now, Shiro was inclined to believe him. It really had been a gamble, and almost too desperate to have been an elaborate contraption.

"When you released me," Shiro said, "you also mentioned that there were others working with you."

"Yes. We are called the Blade of Marmora, named after the daughter of the fallen Blue Paladin, Sarli. She founded the order in their honour, after the Galra attacked the planet of Altea. We've been working against the empire ever since."

"Uh, others?" Hunk said nervously. "Are they here?"

Lance elbowed him. "Hunk, can you try not to act so scared around the chained-up prisoner? It makes us seem a little lame."

Shiro sighed through his nose. Could the boys act a little more professional, for once? It didn't seem like Ulaz minded, or was surprised by Paladins that were little older than child soldiers, which made sense, after 10,000 years of war.

"I am alone on this base," Ulaz confirmed.

"What is this base you're talking about?" Allura demanded. "Shiro's coordinates just led us to this wasteland."

"The base is hidden," Ulaz explained. "Now that I know it is Shiro that has come, you are welcome to our outpost. It lies dead ahead."

Pidge's eyes lit up behind her glasses in curiosity. "Behind all the xanthorium clusters?"

He shook his head. "No. Right in front of it, in a hidden pocket of space-time."

Allura directed her attention to the castle's commlink. "Coran, are you hearing this?"

"I am picking up some kind of anomaly on the screen," he admitted. "I suppose it could be a cloaked base."

"Just fly straight for the centre of the xanthorium cluster," Ulaz instructed. "You will see."

Allura scoffed. "You think you're going to get me to  _destroy our ship_  just because you say so?"

Shiro stepped closer to her, relieved when she turned towards him, and her eyes softened too. "We came out here to find some answers," he said, both of them knowing he really meant  _I._ Their eyes locked, as he searched her face. He knew he had the final say, and that she had trusted him twice already, largely without any reason to beyond himself, but now that they—he, was so close, were they really going to let this go. "Are we going to turn back now?" he asked her quietly, silently begging her.

"You know I trust you, Shiro," said Keith, reluctant but firm, "but this doesn't feel right."

Lance crossed his arms over his chest, sighing slightly. "And you now I hate to agree with Keith, but it's a big fat ditto for me."

"Galra could have implanted fake memories of the escape in your head," Pidge interjected, and Shiro's spirits fell further.

"Oh, come on," said Hunk, "that would be so evil! Which, of course, they are... But they'd have to come up with some molecular level storage unit, which... his hand does have. But, to be linked up to memory, it would need a direct pathway to his brain, which... yeah." He sighed.

With five out of six against him, Shiro knew his odds were low, the reasons the team presenting all reasonable, logical, and far more provable than just following a single gut feeling. The choice to stay and see and risk the destruction of their ship and all of their lives, and he knew deep down that staying would be selfish, but God, didn't he deserve to be selfish after everything he'd been through, to learn about everything he had been through? Would he really sleep any better at night, nights that were already plagued with half shaped nightmares, when knowing he'd had a chance to understand and had walked away from it? And after saving his life, wasn't Ulaz owed a chance?

He turned helplessly to Allura, his voice quiet but firm. "Ulaz freed me," he said simply, their eyes meeting again. Her face was almost unreadable, except for the glimmer of doubt in her eyes. "Without him, we wouldn't be here."  _I wouldn't be here._

Allura's jaw tightened, as she turned away and closed her eyes, and Shiro prepared himself to be shot down, and to not be too angry at her for it. "Fine," she said tightly, opening her eyes, and for a second Shiro thought he had misheard her. "Slow and steady, Coran. Head for the xanthorium cluster."

"Yes, Princess," said Coran, clearly hesitant over the commlink. "Beginning approach."

Shiro moved to stand beside her, their eyes meeting. She'd risk blowing up their ship just because of  _him_? His throat tightened. "Thank you, princess," he said, as Coran counted down their immediate impact. If they really did blow up and die, he wanted those to be his last words.

But they weren't, because they didn't, a base gliding into view unlike anything he had ever seen. There was a symbol on it too, similar to the one on Ulaz's knife, like a jagged, unearthly letter 'S,' and Shiro felt Keith stiffen beside him, likely preparing to attack if the need arose. He clearly didn't trust Ulaz anymore than Allura did.

"Welcome to the Blade of Marmora Communications Base Thaldycon," said Ulaz, not sounding very welcoming at all. If anything, he was prideful, as he stood up from the lounge couch, his arms and feet still bound by Altean handcuffs. "Now, if you'll free me, I need to send a message to the leadership. They need to know I've made contact with Voltron."

Allura turned to Shiro, eyes sharp. "Go with him and keep an eye on him," she instructed. "I'm staying here.

"Ooh!" Hunk looked at Pidge, who was similarly excited, and then to Shiro for permission. "Can we go?"

The Black Paladin didn't have time to nod or say anything before Pidge spoke up too, smiling broadly. "I want to see how they make the space pocket!"

"I want to go too," said Lance brightly. "They're my paladin's organization, right? How cool is that!"

Allura frowned. "I don't think that's a good idea, Lance. At least one of you should stay here."

Lance sidled up to her, smirking. "You're saying you enjoy my company, princess?"

Allura rolled her eyes, groaning, and Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder, turning the boy's attention to him.

"I expect you to be waiting in your Lion's hangar and listening for the princess' orders, then," he said. It was the smallest favour he could do for the princess, knowing how much she disliked Lance's flirting, but even if he trusted Ulaz, bringing all five paladins of Voltron to the base probably wasn't the smartest move; Allura was right. "In case you need to jump into battle. Allura and Coran can keep an eye on things from the bridge."

Allura shot him a quick, grateful smile, as Lance looked momentarily disappointed, and then puffed out his chest importantly.

"No problem Shiro. I'll be completely alert and aware of all of my surroundings." To demonstrate, he did a few karate chops with his arms, and nearly hit Keith in the face. Keith batted him away.

"Can we go now, please?" he asked Shiro irritably.

Shiro nodded, decisive. "Everyone suit up. We'll ride in the Black Lion."

"Hey," Lance called after them, as they walked out of the lounge, "I didn't mean to miss Keith!"

::::

They barely had anytime on the base to appreciate its beauty or technical efficiency, before everything promptly well to hell. The ingenuity of its designer, a scientist apparently named Slav, did little to defend it when Galra cruisers came crashing into the galaxy. Ulaz whirled on them, yellow eyes flashing like the blade strapped to his back, the symbol of the Blade of Marmora almost glowing in anger.

"You were tracked!"

Pidge blinked, and then scowled. "What? _Us?_ "

Keith's features narrowed in anger, faltering for a moment as he went to draw his own blade, and then thought better of it, settling for pointing an accusing finger instead. "If Zarkon knows we're here, it's because  _you_  ratted us out."

Hunk pressed his face to one of the ship's windows, backing away with a fearful look. "It's another one of Zarkon's robot—beast?—robeasts!"

"We have to get back to the ship," Shiro said decidedly.

Ulaz grabbed his arm before he could follow the rest of the team out the door, handing him an purple hard drive. "Shiro, wait. These are instructions on how to reach the Blade of Marmora headquarters. Before you go there, find out how Zarkon is tracking you. If you lead him there, our entire underground network, everything we've spent centuries building, will be lost. And tell... tell Thace Maala I'm sorry."

Shiro didn't have time to ask who Thace Maala was, but he nodded, holding the hard drive quickly and then heading to the Black Lion. The stick seemed to glow in his galra hand, and he forced a harsh breath.

If Ulaz had been able to plant coordinates in his arm, was it possible the Galra had planted a tracker, too?

::::

"Do you really think Zarkon is tracking us?"

Shiro couldn't bring himself to look back at Keith, staring out into the space where Ulaz had died—sacrificed himself—any remnants of the Galra robeast destroyed by the xanthorium clusters, along with the Thaldycon base, too. There was a tightness in his chest, when he thought of the man who'd saved him, and then saved him again, all without any repayment. And now, Shiro's one lead of finding answers was gone too.

His ears pricked when he heard the doors of the observatory slide open, and Allura's voice too. He could just make out a reflection of her face in the glass, her eyes widening a bit; clearly she had thought she'd find him alone, the way he normally was. "We cannot know for sure," she said, composed as always as she smoothed her face over. "Only Ulaz knew our whereabouts.

Something less than grief but more than sadness, coupled with anger, flared in Shiro's chest, as he turned around to face her. "You don't really think Ulaz gave us up?" he said accusingly. "After he  _sacrificed_  himself?

"Yeah!" Keith took a step towards her, still a good five feet away, his fists curling. The blade strapped to his back had a similar sheen to Ulaz's. "Maybe Zarkon found out about this place on his own. He's probably been searching for the Blade of Marmora."

Allura frowned heavily, flicking her eyes up to Shiro as she ignored Keith. "It's clear the loss of Ulaz has caused you great concern," she said rather stiffly. "But, regardless of how Zarkon located us..." Her voice softened. "We cannot stay here any longer. It isn't safe."

Keith's hair fell in front of his dark eyes. "We should meet up with the rest of Ulaz's group, finish what we started," he said vehemently, but Shiro shot him down, too, knowing that on this, at least, he and Allura still agreed.

"No. We're not going to the headquarters until we figure out how Zarkon found us. We can't risk losing the only allies we have in this war." He placed his galra hand on Keith's shoulder in an effort to placate him. He didn't think the teen would like his suspicions about his arm, and only get more upset, or worse, the others would start panicking if word spread, before they had checked it out properly. "Keith, can you leave the princess and I alone for awhile? We need to have a chat."

Keith frowned, looking like he was going to protest, but saw the firmness in Shiro's eyes and backed down. "Alright, Shiro." He uncurled his fists, stifling a yawn. It had been a long day after all. "I'll go make sure the others get some rest."

Shiro hoped that included Keith, too, but he had more pressing matters to deal with, as the door slid shut behind the Red Paladin, and he approached Allura.

"So," she said shortly, "what did you want to  _chat_  about?"

It felt like they were running around in circles, each calling for private discussions that descended into arguments, but Shiro resolved to break the pattern this time. Fighting with Allura was exhausting, and counterproductive, too. He didn't like being mad at her, especially now that this was probably their first time to breath since her capture, and she had trusted him all throughout the past couple days despite her better judgement, and the rest of the team being on her side for most of it, too.

"I think I know how the Galra is tracking us," he said, the fingers of his Galra hand folding into a fist. "But I didn't want to worry the others before I knew for sure."

Allura regarded him, stepping closer as her hostility melted away. "Which is?" she asked cautiously.

"I think they could be tracking us through my arm." He gestured with it. "Maybe when I was battling with Haggar, something was activated, or when I lost the Black Lion, but..." A crease formed in his brow. "If they would have been able to implant memories, and Ulaz was able to implant coordinates, then why wouldn't the Galra put a tracker in my arm?"

"Galra trackers are sophisticated devices with only a range of a few galaxies," she said. "Or at least they were in my day."

"It's been ten thousand years, though," he pointed out. "Their technology has surely advanced. Have you ever seen anything like my arm before?"

"The Galra were always talented at building bionics. Second only to Alteans. If I had to make a guess, I would say the fluidity of yours and the way it powers up is based off the  _E-Drule 4th Quarter_ model."

"Drule?"

"The Galra word for power. I was tutored in many languages, Galran being one of them, although how much of the language has changed in the past 10,000 years, I don't know."

"Is that why you were able to speak fluently with the guards, when we broke in to the transport ship?" he asked, remembering how she'd had to stall at the door, before slamming it against one of the sentries entirely.

A smile played across her lips, and he knew she was thinking of the same thing. "Something like that." Her smile faded. "And if the language has changed, I suppose it stands to reason that their technology would have as well." She reached over, and placed a hand over his fist, uncurling his metal fingers, as though looking for any signs of a tracking device. "Will you have peace, until you know?"

Shiro shook his head. "And I mean what I said to Keith. I don't want to go look for the Blade of Marmora until I know I won't put them, or anyone else, in danger."

Allura nodded, and pursed her lips. "You really think we can trust Ulaz?"

He nodded too. "I do. You know, the reason I trusted Ulaz was similar to the reason I trusted you, when we first met," he said. "I could just tell that, somehow, you weren't going to hurt me, and after being hurt by so many others..."

Allura's eyes softened like stars, as she let go of his hand. "I know we haven't always seen eye-to-eye lately, Shiro, but... I am thankful you came to rescue me, even if it was foolish, I..." She lowered her eyes, her voice growing quieter. "I would have done the same for you."

Shiro slowly turned to her, a  _thank you_  getting lodged in his throat, as a more pressing question burned in his mouth. "Why did you trust me?" he asked, watching the blue light of the screens shine on her face. "Today? When we met?"

"You offered to help me when I had nothing," she said, the corners of her mouth lifting, as she raised her head. "And as for today, you have never led me astray before. You still never have. It may not have worked out the way I expected it too, or the way you hoped it too, but we still have far more information than we did at the start. That's not nothing."

This time, he managed it. "Thank you, princess."

"Of course," she said. "As for your... we can figure out if the Galra are tracking us through your arm, but we do not have the skills to do it ourselves. We must go to the Olkari."

"The Olkari?" he repeated, raising a brow.

"Engineers in tune with the bioelectricity of their planet, and most malleable materials. They'll be able to check the technological history of your arm, and extract a tracker, if it's there."

Relief broke over him in waves that unlike the prison, there was a way out this time. "How far away are they?"

"A few systems. But we should give the Lions and the castle a bit of time to recharge after the battle, the clusters did damage them. We can wormhole over to their system tomorrow. For now, we should all get some rest."

Shiro smiled at her. "You too, princess."

And they walked out of the observatory, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, canon is starting to diverge, and it will only become more prominent from this time on. Some episodes will loosely follow the format of others in s2, as s2 overall was pretty well structured, just with disproportionate screen time and some plot threads handled very, very badly, which is what this fic plans to fix before we move onto s3. Hopefully the next chapter will come soon, but I can promise it'll have lots of Hunk, and some Pidge, backstory and character expansion, and more shallura of course, so stay tuned! :) Thank you so much for your comments guys, I really REALLY appreciate them and would love to read more <3


	6. Binary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Voltron arrives on Galra-infested Olkarion. Results are waited upon.

The air of the castleship was cool and the day-cycle dawning softly, when the planet of Olkarion drifted into view a few days later. It was still at the edge of the galaxy, known as Ooyx 8, probably due to tiny moons that orbit the sun with nothing else, in a perpetual figure eight, as white spores started sticking to the bridge windows, and Shiro frowned as he looked up from his cup of coffee (or the Altean equivalent, anyway).

"What are those?" he asked Allura. They were always the first ones up.

"I don't know. Perhaps planetary residue?" she suggested, her own mug of coffee in hand. "I only visited the Olkari once with my father. Coran is more familiar with them, and their inventions."

He'd shown them and the rest of the team his special voice recording cube yesterday morning, when Allura had announced their new trajectory.

Shiro's brow furrowed as the white spores slowly unstuck. They didn't seem dangerous, but you could never really know for sure, out here in space. "We have some repairs to still finish up, don't we? The paladins and I can check it out then, and make sure we're all good to go before we land on the planet."

She arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure you can handle a somoflange? They can be quite a sensitive piece of technology."

It coaxed a smile out of him, as he finished his coffee. "I'm sure Hunk and Pidge can figure it out, but we'll keep you and Coran on the commlink, just in case." His smile turned grateful when she took his empty mug from him. "I'll go wake up the others, princess, but keep an eye on those spores."

"I think I can manage," she said dryly, and he nearly laughed.

It was easy to forget what information could be awaiting him on Olkari, when he was with her.

::::

After being attacked by floating spores while repairing the somoflange (or rather, while Pidge and Hunk did so, with some tweaking) and the subsequent snowball-esque fight that had followed, courtesy of Lance, Shiro was glad when the coordinates found in the spores were successfully decoded, now that they knew they were going to land on a Galra-occupied planet. They would have to be ready for a fight.

That, and Pidge's tech skills would never fail to amaze him, even if Shiro knew it ran in her family. Matt had been gifted too, and Sam Holt had been one of the smartest people to this day that Shiro had ever met, even while traversing the galaxy. Matt hadn't gotten a chance to use his knowledge in prison, confined to a place that only valued the broad strength that Shiro had, but he dreaded to think what either of the captured Holts could be producing under the demand of the Galra.

The sooner they were found, the better, not just for them or Pidge, but for the galaxy itself.

He found Allura typing away in the main room, running the coordinates through and charting their course to Olkarion. It was a relief that the distress call came from the planet they were heading towards anyway, as Shiro knew she would have answered it before seeking out answers of whether his arm was a tracker, but... there was still a nagging feeling of wanted to know exactly what she would have chosen. Just a day ago he would have thought she would never trust a Galra, and yet she had anyway, for him. Had chosen to follow his judgement over everyone's, even her own.

He crossed his arms as he came up beside her, and jerked his head towards the images displayed on the holoscreens in front of her. They were of the Olkari people and architecture, mainly. "What do we know about them?"

Allura spared him a side glance. "They were a fairly ancient civilization even before the war, so they are beyond that now. They are some of the greatest engineers, architects, and doctors in the world. The ability that allows them to manipulate the bioelectricity of their environment also applies to one another, but not necessarily other alien species, at least not without years of training... their military was also quite strong as a result, but since everyone wanted their designs, they never had a war to fight. An Olkari scientist helped my father create Voltron, and Coran received a floating cube from him—" Allura smiled a little wistfully; it had been a simpler time, for everyone. "I think they were sweet on one another, however briefly."

Shiro's eyes rested on her. "You really miss Altea, don't you?"

Allura's smile faded, her whole expression faltering. Something seemed to flash behind her eyes only that she could see, her fingers pausing against the holoscreens, curling in on themselves slightly, and he felt guilty for dredging up the past. For the universe it had been 10,000 years, but for her, it must have felt like only four months ago since she'd lost her people when stumbling out of the cryopod.

Her voice was quiet but not unkind as she replied, "More than you know."

Shiro was silent for a long time, before he said, "Have you eaten recently?" He knew he and the Paladins have after getting cleaned up from their escapade outside of the ship with the spores, but he didn't remember seeing Allura settle down to eat something.

"I..." There was no lying to those eyes, especially not when they were so kind. "May have skipped on breakfast," she mumbled.

"Go eat, then, before we arrive on Olkarion. I'll watch the bridge, let you know if anything comes up."

Allura bowed her head slightly, flashing him an appreciative look. She squeezed the crook of his elbow when she went to pass him, his prosthetic surprisingly warm under his shirt. "Thank you Shiro. I promise, once we free the Olkari, we'll find our answer too." Her fingers trailed down to the tip of his elbow, before she let go.

He only prayed she was right.

::::

Olkarion was a slanted, brown planet with orange hues, as the Castleship descended through the atmosphere. Massive mountains sprouted out, clear as day even while approaching outside of the orbit within Ooyx 8, and the planet attached to the ranges was equally as awe-inspiring, with towering skyscrapers and trees. The spore coordinates had been deciphered to have come from the forest, so Shiro led the paladins in a broad-arced flanking fly, bypassing the city completely and instead gliding over the forest.

"Why doesn't anyone ever send a distress signal from a cool place?" Pidge grumbled. "I hate the outdoors. Nothing but sunburn and poison oak."

"I like it out here," said Keith. "It's quiet."

Well, no wonder he'd liked living alone in a shack in the middle of the desert, Shiro thought dryly, too alert to truly be amused, but it was a nice thought none the less. And whatever Pidge and Keith said, Shiro thought Olkarion was beautiful. The planet seemed to be stuck in a state of perpetual sunset, a warm orange glow basking over everything, and it was moments like this that reminded him why he'd fallen in love with space in the first place.

And then the peace was broken when an arrow-like object flew towards his Lion and landed straight in Black's chest, bonking off and seemingly harmless, until he felt his Lion beginning to sink towards the trees until it landed on the ground alongside the others—"Something's pulling Blue down too," Lance reported, thankfully sticking to Garrison protocol—and they saw people Shiro could only describe as tree walkers.

They resembled insects, with bony bodies and buggy eyes of various colours, their skin like the underbelly of a forest toad but smoother, mushroom white and brown. Antenna-like lumps made up their eyebrows, and on the backs of their heads on either side of their neck, brown flaps of skin or pigment pulled over the tops of their heads and brows like snug, small caps.

"Are those wooden mech suits?" Hunk asked, it and drew Shiro's attention to the hulking green and brown giants lumbering beside the aliens, seemingly made of tree bark but animated with something more electric. Bioelectricity of their environment, Shiro remembered; these must be the Olkari.

"Are you kidding me?" Lance complained. "We got taken down by a bunch of tree people!"

So much for following Garrison protocol. It was a good thing no one could hear their commfeed outside of the cockpits, as Shiro switched his transmitter on and channelled his best diplomat voice (learned from observing Allura herself) as it broadcasted outside his Lion. "We come in peace!" he announced.

One of the older looking Olkari, female, stepped forward, defined by the grey sash thrown over one side of the matching white tunics the rest of the Olkari wore. "Could it be?" she said, and he could barely make out her voice. "Voltron?"

Pidge climbed out of a hatch of the Green Lion, and held the containment unit containing the spores proudly. "We found your distress signal!"

The older Olkari gasped, "Praise Lubos!" and the Olkari echoed the name. Was it some kind of god, Shiro wondered.

He'd find out soon enough. And, hopefully, the answers about his arm could come after.

::::

It would take some time, to master the nearly magical headgear the Olkari had gifted them with, before they could rescue poor King Lubos from the evil clutches of the Galra. From the high branches of the forest, Pidge could see glimpses of the enslaved Olkari, forced to stand for hours by giant cubes (not unlike the one Coran had proudly shown off on the castleship), only these ones were coloured black and pulsing with purple light of the Galra empire...

How dare the Galra take these amazing engineers and architects and force them to use their abilities like this?What if the Galra were forcing her father and brother to do the same with their talents? Her throat tightened. In that moment, she envied Elyta, for being able to go immediately looking for her family; for making the choice to lose them in the first place.

"Pidge?" Hunk's voice was clear through her commlink, as he was only a few branches over. The two had been given this section of the forest to experiment, Lance and Keith the other, while Shiro had gone to update Allura and find out as much information as he could from the stand-in Chief of the Olkari, Ryner. "You okay?"

She realized vines had started sprouting and growing twisted thorns beneath her hands on the tree. She quickly took her hand and willed the vines away, and they shrank back, glowing green like the circlet Ryner had placed on her head, same as all the others. "Yeah. Just... my family would have loved, seeing this."

Hunk sighed. "Yeah, mine too. My mom was an engineer."

Pidge perked up; how hadn't she known that? "Really? Where'd she go to school?"

She could hear Hunk's smile over the link. "Institute of Formal 27th Century Living. That's where she met my mum. Guess there's still things we have to learn about each other, huh?"

"Yeah, well, I'd rather learn more about you than Lance," she teased. "At least you understand B.L.I.P.-tech."

"Well he understands homesickness as much as either of us do," Hunk said, his tone softening, and Pidge's smile faltered. Yeah, he was right. She listened to the sound of Hunk's jetpack, looking up when the Yellow Paladin landed in front of her on his branch. His own circlet was laden over his headband.

"Why do you never take that thing off, anyway?" Pidge asked.

Hunk gave her a soft grin. "I did a bit of martial arts as a kid but never got beyond my yellow belt. My mother told me to always keep something handy, in case I got grease on my face when I helped her with her projects. She always told me to remember to keep moving forward, to never take any steps back. 1-0-1, y'know. Like binary."

 _Of course, all commands need to come as binary coded messages,_ Ryner had said. Why did that sound so wrong, suddenly?

"Have you ever felt like you don't fit into the binary?" Pidge said hesitantly.

Hunk studied her, taking a step closer. "What do you mean?"

Pidge avoided his gaze. "I just mean, on earth, they try to fit us in all of these boxes. Jock or nerd, cool or uncool... boy or girl. But in space, for so many of these new races, none of that applies, and it's so freeing, but—but I still feel like I'm trapped, somehow. That either I'll find my family, or I won't, and I don't..."

"I know my moms don't," Hunk said. "I mean, they pretty much do, but you know, some people will always be buttheads."

A smile crept over her face. "Buttheads?"

"Shiro says we can't swear in front of you."

"My older brother was Matt, I think I can handle it."

"But I do think I know what you mean," Hunk continued, sitting down next to her and letting his legs dangle over one side of the thick branch. Pidge joined him. "I love cooking, and engineering, and one of my moms is really good at either, so it feels like depending on which one I pick, I'm picking one of them over the other..." His face fell. "I know it's kinda dumb, though, to think about things that'll happen when we get back to Earth, that might be a really long time from now. Things that seemed so important on Earth don't matter that much anymore now."

Pidge placed a tiny hand on his shoulder. "I know I came to space to find my family, and my brother... but I think I just found four more. I'm really glad I have you Hunk, and everyone else."

They shared a smile, Hunk's like sunshine. "I'm glad I have you too, Pidge." His eyes were level with the circlet one her head. "I guess we should get back to practicing, huh?"

Pidge pushed herself up and offered him a hand. Her whole body felt lighter. "Guess so."

Hunk accepted it, and then dusted his hands off on his legs as she turned back to the tree trunk. "And Pidge?" She looked back at him. "Whatever side of the binary you're on, I'm here for you."

Flowers sprouted between their feet. "I know."

::::

Shiro had known false gods in captivity, prisoners with hands or appendages clasped in prayer, murmuring for mercy or begging for last rites, before being thrown into the arena to never return. Or, like him, if they did, never the same. He had never expected that Lubos would be a false king, one that had thrown his loyal people under the bus to save his own hide, and yet still call himself a  _leader_. He'd sat in lavish captivity while his people were starved and beaten, and they had wasted valuable time trying to rescue him (even if they had ultimately succeeded). It made Shiro feel sick and angry, his Galra arm pulsing, but he quickly made it simmer down. It wouldn't do anyone any good for his arm to start causing damage in the abodes the Olkari had given them for a night, after a celebration feast.

Now that the Galra's weaponized cube had been defeated, and Lubos turned over to the Olkari to be tried by their laws, Coran had brought out his cube and almost everyone else was outside, enjoying it's echoing feature. The walls inside the hut were inscribed with markings of the Olkari language, angular and shaped like triangles for the most part, and all gibberish to him. There was so much in the universe he still didn't know. So much the Olkari unknowingly held in their hands, in deciding the fate of his. He and Allura had agreed to wait until early morning to speak with them.

"Oh, I was wondering where you'd went."

Shiro turned at the sound of Keith's voice, the Red Paladin setting aside the purple curtain at the door of the hut. Distantly, Shiro could hear Lance leading the Olkari in a cheer where he said  _vol_ and they said  _tron._

"Neither us were ever really party people," he admitted with a shrug. It had been that way at the Garrison too.

Keith hesitated before stepping forward. "When I was out with Lance in the forest, while we were practicing with the circlets..." Keith removed his from his dark hair, turning it over in his hands the way Shiro had seen him do with his knife a million times.

"You didn't get into a fight did you?" Shiro asked when the silence stretched on. He'd thought the boys, in spite of their bickering, would have been able to handle.

"No, well yes, but it wasn't bad. Just... Lance being Lance." Keith set the circlet down on the windowsill. "And me being me, I guess, but the other day, with the Blade of Marmora, and the previous Blue Paladin being Galra... do you think, maybe, my previous paladin could have been Galra too?"

"I suppose it's possible," Shiro said slowly, "but I'm not sure how much that matters. What happened in the past is in the past, after all. Zarkon was my predecessor, and..." And what?

"You're nothing like Zarkon," Keith said fiercely, all hesitance faded.

Shiro gave him a small smile. "Did Lance say something about your paladin being Galra?"

"What? No. I've just been thinking about it, since Ulaz died. I mean, clearly not all Galra are evil."

Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe not, but for now, let's focus on the new ally we do have: the Olkari." They'd won the Olkari's loyalty in addition to getting rid of the Galra, and he knew that Ryner, unlike Lubos, would keep her promises.

Keith's shoulders slumped, but he nodded. "Yeah, yeah, you're right." He glanced behind him. The  _Vol-tron_  chant had given way to the sound of music, synthesized and woodwind-based all at once. "I think I might go re-join the party. Hunk and one of the Ryner's friends might have finished the snacks they were making. Wanna join?"

"You go ahead," Shiro told him. "I'll check up soon."

Keith gave him a doubtful look, but left the tent, the purple curtain flapping behind him.

Once he was gone, Shiro looked down at his arm. Tomorrow, tomorrow he would have answers. Tonight, he just wouldn't sleep.

::::

It was hard to tell how time was passing, when the sky never seemed to change on Olkarion, but Allura managed, creeping down to the Olkari's village in what the castle said was early dawn, and she found Shiro sitting outside the small collection of huts the paladins had been given; she could hear Lance and Hunk snoring as she passed the one to the left.

Shiro shot to his feet. He looked terrible, a deep furrow etched into his brow and heavy bags under his eyes. "Princess. I wasn't expecting you."

A smile played across her lips, as she said a phrase she'd heard Lance recite, when quoting old moving-pictures back on Earth. "At ease, soldier." It coaxed a smile out of Shiro, anyway, so she didn't feel too silly for saying it. In fact, she felt rather proud, and confident she'd used it in the right context. It seemed right anyway. But she shook those thoughts away, as she went to stand beside him. "I trust Lubos' betrayal has rattled you?"

Shiro's face closed up, and they both looked at the horizon, the skyscraper trees and soft sunlight ghosting through the leaves and gaps between branches. "I can't believe a king would so something like that. Just surrender to save his own hide."

Allura's voice was calm. "My father would be angry with him as well." Her father had chosen not to fight as well (twice, now) but he had loved his people, so much he had surely died for them. Lubos was just selfish and cowardly, and nothing that a good leader was supposed to be. Nothing like her father, or Shiro, or even herself. Allura glanced at him. "You're more like him than you know."

Shiro looked at her, his eyebrows raised. "I am?"

"You're both honest and true leaders."

A faint flush coloured his cheeks, but it might have been the pink hue to the sky playing tricks on her eyes. "The same could be said of you, princess. And Lubos is not worth my thoughts."

She took a small step closer. "Than what is?" His metal hand curled into a fist, and she understood. "I have been thinking of that as well."

"I formulated a plan, last night," he revealed quietly. Anything louder felt like it would disturb the dewy peace settling over the planet, like it would bring the Galra crashing in due to however they were being tracked. "If it is in my arm, and they can't remove it quickly, leave me here, and—"

"What?"

"—and take the Black Lion with you. You can always find another pilot in the meantime."

Allura shook her head, her mouth a thin firm line. "I'm not leaving you," she said. Purple walls and soldiers—a proud smile and soft eyes—flashed in his mind. "I stand by what I said before. You are the Black Paladin. I've known from the moment you stood by me that first day in the castleship. You said you were with me. I am with you. We are not leaving Olkarion without you, tracker or no."

"But if it is me—"

"Your arm is not you—"

"It's a part of me, Allura—"

"And I refuse to lose all of you! I have suffered enough losses, enough blows. You think I have not considered the possibility of your arm holding the tracker? That I have not feared it as you have? It is your hand—and you are my right hand. I do not know if I could lead Voltron without you, but it would not be hardly as efficient, as effective. I do not want to find out. I... I need you to be the leader of Voltron. Please, Shiro. Do this for me."

He softened, and then grew steady in the way she had come to expect. He stepped closer to her. The sunlight shone in between them. "I already have," he murmured. "I... I will try to continue to do so, Princess."

"Thank you, Shiro," Allura said softly. She held his gaze for a long moment, and then cast her gaze over to the village below them. The Olkari were starting to emerge from their huts. "I expect they will be ready to speak with us, soon. Come Shiro. Let us find out if you need a new arm or not."

::::

Thace Maala was no fool; he knew he was running out of time. Time to grieve. ( _Ulaz—no_ ). Time to find an alibi. (He'd wiped the computer mainframe, replaced it with false footage to mask his presence in central command when he'd lowered the shields, but would it be enough?) Time to hide. (In a military school corridor, Ulaz's face hovering in the gloom; Ulaz's photo in his pocket; lingering glances when Kolivan wasn't around—heartbreak heartbreak  _heartbreak_ —)

Haggar's prying eyes and dark druids were everywhere, after all. He hadn't spent all this time working his way up to central command, into Zarkon's main ship, lying and keeping quiet, a double agent for the Blade, just to be an informant. Just for the hope of a better galaxy for the greater good, for knowledge—no, he wouldn't die for the knowledge his brother Kolivan had sent him to find. He wasn't that selfless. He had been at central command for only a few months, and now it was time to start finding the information that mattered.

He waited until one of the lesser habited computer rooms, still connected to the mainframe, was empty, and slipped inside. His fingers flew over the keys, knowing he didn't have much time, but ever since the Red Lion had been found by the Galra and then stolen by the Paladins of Voltron, he had to wonder if the mission to check up on the Blue Lion had been recorded. If his hunch was indeed correct, now that he had proof the Lion existed.

"Computer," he said, voice quiet, and yet it echoed around the room. He wondered if it was indeed as shaky as it sounded. "Find Orilla Maala."


	7. Eye of the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Galra attack, and feelings start to shift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> s7 spoilers ahead, but basically what it boils down to, now that s7 has basically ruined the show for me beyond repair, i'll be doubling down on my devotion to this fic and attempt for weekly updates at the bare minimum. check out my blog voltron-fix-it-fic, or shiroallura on tumblr under the "fix it fic" for more information as to what exactly this fic will encompass. at the very least, it'll keep shiro as the endgame black paladin, allura as black paladin when he goes missing, a much shorter clone and vastly different clone arc, and the fic will go all the way until what i see as a fitting end for the entire show's conclusion. it's going to be a long, and amazing ride, and i hope you're inclined to agree, when all is said and done.
> 
> without further ado, here's chapter seven.

ARC II: The Traitor

CHAPTER SEVEN: Eye of the Storm

::::

"It's not it."

Shiro felt like he could breathe again for the first time in five days. "It's not?"

Ryner looked at him, blinking slowly. "I have seen many tracking devices come and go. I have built many of them. Your arm, while advanced and deadly Galra tech, is not one of them. It may yet have another purpose, as it seems you have discovered, but is not a tracking device. How the Galra  _are_  tracking you, however, I am unsure."

"At least this is one avenue closed," Allura said quietly, in her chair beside him, "so that we can focus on other possibilities." She rose and took a step to the door, standing behind Shiro's chair. "Thank you, Ryner. Myself and the paladins of Voltron appreciate your help greatly. If you may excuse us, Shiro and I should get back to them."

The Olkari bowed her head sagely. "Of course, princess. Thank you for trusting my judgement with something this important."

Shiro felt movement came back to his limbs, including his Galra one, as he and Allura left Ryner's tree hut and moved into the sunlight of mid-day. Ryner's check had been time consuming, but thorough, and he felt confident in her judgement. Confident enough to not worry about her being wrong, even if he did know it didn't solve all his problems. There was still the issue of Zarkon stealing the Black Lion out from under him at central command that'd he have to contend with, and they'd still have to figure out how they were being tracked, but... For now, he was going to appreciate that it wasn't him, and that he wouldn't have to leave his team (not that he thought Allura would have let him, anyway).

"D'you think the other are awake yet?" Shiro asked her, when he finally found his voice.

Allura gave him a small smile, her eyes resting on him, as though patiently waiting for him to say something. "If not, let them rest. I thought we might see what intel the Galra had been story here, if any. It might help us coordinate our next move. If the Olkari were building weapons, they must have been shipped somewhere."

"Good idea."

She turned towards the horizon, as they walked down the ramps. "As good as you hiding in the trash-bin?"

A chuckle rumbled in his chest. The idea had seemed a bit like a punishment for insisting his way onto the mission at the time, but it had been more than worth it, to keep her safe. Besides, he could laugh about it now. "It was effective, wasn't it?"

She spared him a smile, eyes twinkling mischievously. "I suppose so." He stopped halfway down a descending ramp, suddenly solemn, and she got a few steps before she stopped too, turning to face him with her brow furrowed. "Shiro?"

"What if we can't figure out how Zarkon's tracking us?"

She took a step towards him. "We will."

"But if we—"

"You wished it would be you," she realized, her jaw going a tad slack as she stared up at him. "So you could have answers. So you could protect us."

"If it was me," he said, "I could at least keep us safe. Now, we have no idea."

"We've had no ideas before. About how to form Voltron." Her lips twitched upwards, as she gestured to herself. "About how to rescue me. We will find answers, and allies, just like we have today. Just... what is it you are always telling Keith?"

He gave her a small smile. "Patience—"

"—yields focus," they finished together, and she reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "You will simply have to be patient, then, won't you?"

He fell into step beside her again, as they moved back towards where they were headed. Towards progress, of some kind. "I suppose I will," he admitted.

Waiting by her side would make everything better, after all.

::::

Team Voltron prepared to leave once the Olkari intel was finished downloading in the Castle of Lions. The Olkari were celebratory, teary, and cheerful, bidding their new allies goodbye, and Allura was confident they'd be alright. They had a freed planet, a good infrastructure, and Ryner to lead them. The paladins had stored their Lions in the Castle, and now it was for the last of the pleasantries, as she and Ryner shook hands.

"I look forward to being allies with you and Voltron, princess."

Allura smiled. "And I as well."

Her gaze drifted over to Shiro, who was corralling the other paladins towards the Castle's ramp, her smile still on her face as her eyes settled on him, when the sky split open and the Galra attacked. A looming purple cruiser and fighter jets broke out from the cosmos, descending, an ion canon perched atop the cruiser, and the Olkari turned and ran to their homes in a stampede. The Olkari were just as big as the paladins, and she largely lost sight of her team as the crowd grew larger, more desperate, and Allura tried to see if the paladins were near the ramp of the Castle, but they were nowhere to be found.

Even the tallest, Shiro, was nowhere to be found, and her heart got stuck in her throat as she turned to a panicked Ryner.

"What's going on?" Allura asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.

Ryner's face turned from panic to despair. "When we reclaimed their city and dismantled the weapons they were forcing us to build, it must have sent a message to them somehow. They've come to annihilate us."

"No," came a ragged voice, followed by a cough, and everything felt more manageable as Shiro appeared by Ryner's side, immediately fitting himself next to Allura. His face was set, even if she could see the emotions raging behind his grey eyes. "They're not. Princess, I know you don't like fleeing, but if they're tracking us—"

"—then we should lead them away from the planet," she finished, and he nodded. "Contact the paladins and get them in the castle if they're not already, I'll get a wormhole going." She quickly turned to Ryner, and handed her the same device she had given to the Arusians before living Arus, a blue and white homing chip. "If it doesn't work and you need our assistance, contact us with this and we'll come as soon as we can. Thank you for all you've done. Shiro, let's go."

He nodded and set off towards the Castle, and she was relieved to see Pidge and Keith already near the archway, with Hunk and Lance coming up behind them, when Coran's voice crackled over her commlink. "I've prepared us for liftoff, princess, all we need is the Lions and then we can attack—"

"We're leaving the planet," Shiro cut in, and she was grateful as he relayed the plan to the team, a strange breathlessness clogging up her chest as they ran to the bridge, the other paladins joining them.

"Are you really sure that's a good idea?" Keith said, even as he got into his chair, looking to Allura as though it was her idea. The other paladins did too.

"It's the best way to protect the Olkari, so yes," Shiro said, rather patiently as Allura placed her hands over the steering and felt it stir to life, and she watched him get to his command, but remained standing the same way as her. They had barely gotten the Castle up in the air when laser beams and fire rained down on them from above, and the castle quaked, and Allura found Shiro looking back at her once she steadied herself. "Allura, can you evade these fighters? We can't have them following us through the wormhole."

She met his eyes, and drew on his strength. "I can try."

"Keith, Lance, let's lay down some covering fire," he ordered, and the boys snapped to attention. It didn't take long for them to dissolve into bickering, and only a little longer for their gun spheres to go offline, but Allura saw a moon and seized upon the idea. Its gravity would help them put some distance between them and the Galra, and she felt her chest contract when she guided the Castleship through the wormhole.

Her legs grew unsteady when an alarm blared, and Coran announced, "The Teludav lens malfunctioned! We're about to exit this wormhole a lot sooner than we planned!"

They emerged into open space that resembled a graveyard of floating, green-white jagged icebergs, drifting aimlessly and with no clear source of gravity. Still, they were clearly far away from Olkarion, and hadn't been followed through the wormhole, nor was their commlink being opened up by Ryner's homing chip, and the knowlege that they were at least safe temporarily was enough for Allura's adrenaline, and her legs, to give out on her.

Somehow, Shiro caught her before she hit the ground, his arms around her shoulders and him on his knees, and she looked blearily into his concerned face, the castle's crystal above framing a halo around his head. He looked like the Lion Goddess' winged servants, the  _agan'els,_ she thought, dazed.

"Princess, are you alright?"

His arms were warm and strong. "I'm fine," she mumbled, sensing Coran crouching beside her on her other side.

"Oh no," Coran tutted, "you look exhausted. You must rest. You've been exerting way too much energy..I'll go check on the main turbine and figure out what's going—"

"I can't leave things unsupervised," she coughed.

"You won't be," Shiro said, helping her into a sitting position. Coran grabbed her other arm to ease her into it. "I'll stay here and watch over the bridge, while you and the other Paladins get some sleep."He tore his gaze away from her to shoot a pointed look at the Paladins, and Hunk at least got the gist, grabbing Lance and Keith's arms and tugging them over to the door; Pidge trailed along, clutching her datapad.

Allura frowned deeply. "But you are as tired as—"

"No, I'm not," he said gently, but firmly. "You just collapsed princess. You need rest. And if you don't get it, who knows if you'll even be able to wormhole the next time we need to?"

"C'mon princess," Coran chirped. "You know Shiro. He'll so a spiff and span job, fine as a flaxernaff."

"Well yes, but—"

Shiro's brow furrowed. "Please, Allura."

She let out a soft sigh, and caved. "Very well. Thank you, Shiro. But don't push yourself too hard, and if you need any assistance don't hesitate to call m—"

He helped her onto her feet, and then let go only when he was sure she was steady. "I appreciate your concern princess, but I'll Coran if a matter that doesn't have to concern you arises. Get some rest. Everything will be better in the morning."

She thought of their morning coffee routine, and knew he was right. "Alright." Still, she didn't like it. "I'll leave the bridge to you."

She let Coran walk her back to her room, and fell into bed and asleep almost immediately.

In her nightmares, Altea burned.

::::

"—and you're not shoving hard enough!"

Lance grunted in frustration at the accusation, shoving back against Keith to prove it wrong. It was just his luck to be stuck in an elevator with  _him_  of all people, why hadn't he just stayed in the kitchen baking with Hunk and Pidge? He could've been having cookies right now. Or should have already been at the pool the castle apparently had. But no, he was here, trapped, and they were barely making any progress towards the vent above them that would bring their freedom, and hopefully, the pool.

He wondered if his predecessor, Sarli, had been as annoyed by their Red Paladin, whomever it was.

"Hey Keith," he spoke up.

Keith sounded like he was ready to cut someone with his knife. "What, Lance?"

"D'you think my paladin was a good person?"

Keith's iciness melted away. "What? Why're you asking that?"

"Well, I mean, they were Galra, weren't they?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Keith cleared his throat, glancing over his shoulder, the towel draped over Lance's brushing his. "Look, Lance, I hate to admit it, but you're a good paladin, and the Blue Lion chose you for a reason. Why does it matter if your previous paladin was Galra or not?"

"I'm just saying, the Black Lion chose Zarkon, and clearly that was a big mistake, so how do we know the rest of us are actually as chosen as Allura thinks we are?"

Keith shifted. "Shiro is."

Lance's face fell. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I know that whether a person's good or not does depend on their actions, I just... Zarkon nearly stole the Black Lion, and if some of the old paladins were Galra, then maybe that's how they had Red, or maybe the Galra knows about  _Earth_ , maybe Sarli left the Blue Lion there, but—"

"If they do, your family could be in danger?" Keith said slowly.

Lance nodded, ducking his head. "I know it's dumb. We have a lot of other things to worry about."

Keith was silent for so long Lance thought he wasn't going to say anything, and was about to suggest they start pushing again, when Keith said, "It's not dumb. If my dad was still alive, I'd probably feel the same way. But the Galra got close to Earth when they captured Shiro, and they left it alone when it didn't seem worth it, so I don't know why would have changed their minds now. I'm sure your family is fine."

Lance gave him a small, tired smile, even if he knew the other boy couldn't see it. "Thanks, Keith."

"Don't mention it." Keith coughed a tad awkwardly. "Now, are we going to go to the pool, or?"

Lance laughed. "Yeah, right. I have missed being around water. C'mon. We're not far from the vent."

::::

Shiro turned his head away from his screens when he heard the doors swish open, and recognized Allura's footsteps in an instance, catching a glimpse of the princess in the corner of his eye. He stood, turning around to face her, his brow furrowed. "What are you doing here?" he asked, already fairly certain he know what exactly was on her mind. To be fair, she'd taken longer to give up on sleeping than he'd thought, but that didn't mean she shouldn't give it another try. "You should be resting."

She approached her station, gesturing with her hands. "I cannot sleep. Zarkon is out there. He's searching for us." She drew up a screen as he met her halfway, and caught her hand in his, his palm folded over the back of hers.

"I know how you feel," he said, his gaze softening as he tugged her hand downwards. His thumb ran down the curve between her thumb and index finger, and he didn't let go as she looked back at him, her face open and surprised. "But you have to step away for awhile. It's what's best for everyone."

Allura sighed, slipping her hand out from under his and he felt a strange twinge of disappointment. "There is still so much to do."

"Like what?"

"Searching for Zarkon."

"But beyond that?" he pressed, stepping closer, ignoring the way his face wanted to flush. Why did he feel so warm all of a sudden?

She seemed similarly flustered, the exhaustion likely getting to her, as she stammered, "I, uh… the mice… need…"

His brows knit together, the thought of how adorable she looked crossing his mind before he forcibly pushed it away. "The mice?"

"Yes!" She seemed to seize upon the way out. "The mice need a bath. They haven't had one for ages."

Shiro smiled, amused, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at her. "A bath?"

"Yes," she said, rather defensively.

"Alright. Where do we start?"

"We?"

"Rest can also be relaxation, and I need to make sure you're relaxing properly, princess," he clarified. "For the good of the team."

Allura blinked at him, and then a smile spread across her face as she decided to play along. "Yes, of course. Well then, come along. I believe the mice are in the library at the moment."

They got a tub full of water from the kitchen, gathered up the mice, some soap and towels, and sent to washing. Shiro rolled up his sleeves, and Allura's battle suit was waterproof, as they set to work. Not that it was anything particularly serious, in fact, it was exactly what Shiro had been hoping for: relaxing and even fun, even if he kept one eye on his screens in case something happened. Allura was even more adorable with the way she'd coo and speak with the mice as they squeaked back at her, and as he dried Platt off, it reminded him of the hamster he'd had when he was twelve, a fond smile moving onto his face.

Perhaps he had needed this, too.

The mice were bundled up in a towel on Allura's lap to dry, as she sat in Shiro's usual chair and he stood beside it, leaning on the back. Her hands were slowed from fatigue, as she typed across the datapad, but at least she wasn't stiff or worried, anymore. Maybe she'd even be able to get some rest.

"Were mice common on Altea?" he asked.

She glanced down at the way Chulatt was sleeping on Platt's big green and yellow stomach, his blue ears bigger than his whole tiny head. "Fairly common, for any household that didn't have cats. I expect these four scurried down in the kitchens all the time, and got lost in the chaos when... when Altea was attacked."

He could practically see her face fall, and regret grew in his chest; he hadn't meant to make her sad. "Princess, I—"

"Coran and I were sent back to Altea."

The words took a few seconds to register, and even once they did, all he could manage was, "What?"

"The wormhole. The witch's magic warped it, and we were sent back in time, to the day before Altea fell. Letting the planet get destroyed was the only way we could hope to have enough energy to come back."

Shiro shifted, and knelt beside her, hesitantly reaching for her hands and grateful when she let him take them. "I am so sorry, Allura," he breathed. "I can't imagine how terrible that must have been for you. But..." Could he really be this selfish? He swallowed hard, and said it anyway. "Thank you for coming back to us."

_To me._

She gave his hand a squeeze, her eyes shining as she gave him the smallest, teariest smile possible. "Thank you, Shiro. I'm just glad that you and the other paladins are safe. I was worried that we wouldn't get to you in time, with the wound the witch inflicted on you..."

He returned her smile. "Imagine how I felt about you. When you were captured, I felt like..."

The castle shook as shots fired down at it, and they both looked up in alarm. Allura shot to her feet, rushing to her station and muttering quiznak under her breath as Shiro resumed his, and she barked out, "Paladins, bridge, now!"

The kids and Coran rushed in, Lance and Keith's hair both damp with towels around their shoulders—why were they in swim trunks?—as Lance gasped, "We'll settle who won our splash fight later," as he ran to his station. Soapy water sloshed over the side of the small tub left near the stairs that let up to Allura's station, as Shiro fought to keep his head clear and his orders speedy and concise.

He was just glad Hunk's accident in cooking came through in the end, and they got the scaultrite lenses working enough to wormhole from out of the Galra's grasp. Venturing out into the Lions hadn't worked, and he didn't like feeling the Black Lion slip out from under his fingers whenever Zarkon was around. There had to be a way to break the connection, and strengthen his own. As for how they were being tracked...

Allura had announced her thoughts that it was her, as Haggar had come for them on Arus after the princess had awoken, and while it made sense...  _It doesn't matter princess, we're in this together, we're gonna get out together._ He would never leave her again.

He gritted his teeth, even as the joyful paladins exited the bridge, content with their victory. He wished he could have some answers.

But at least, as he approached Allura, and they silently did a more in depth scan of the castle for any tracking devices, fingers brushing as they typed across the screens, he had a tiny shred of peace in the eye of the storm.


	8. Taujeer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge questions, Keith runs, and Coran ponders. Shiro and Allura have a talk. Also, the Galra.

ARC II: The Traitor

CHAPTER EIGHT: Taujeer

::::

In the end, their searches yielded nothing, and Allura gnawed on her bottom lip as worry grew into a heavy pit in her stomach. Shiro's chivalry was admirable, as was almost everything about him, but no matter what he said, it did  _matter_  if she was the one being tracked. She suddenly understood all too well the anxiety that must have been consuming him back on Olkarion. How could she live with herself if she was the one always putting them in danger?

She fell silent, even as Shiro kept typing, a frown etching its way onto her face, until she reached for his hand and stilled it. "There's no point in searching any longer. Zarkon is clearly tracking us through me." Shiro dropped his head and frowned at her, and she pressed on, knowing he would be the hardest and most important person to convince. "Would it really be so hard to believe? Zarkon's forces showed up on Arus only after I awoke."

His voice was tight, but patient. "I never said you were wrong, princess. I just said that it doesn't matter, and it doesn't. We're not leaving you, and worm-holing is our best chance to stay free from the Galra until we can figure out a way to undo it."

She frowned. "If I am the one being tracked, I need to know. I can take a pod and see what happens, and radio you and the paladins if I need assistance. At least then we will know if it is me, and can concentrate our resources to remedying it—"

He didn't look away, his frown deepening. "Allura, it doesn't matter if—"

"Yes, it does—"

"And what if something goes wrong? What then—"

"It won't—"

"You don't know that—"

"Shiro—"

"I can't lose you again!" His hands hovered over her upper arm, as though he wanted to hold her, but refrained, his shoulders sagging even as his voice lacked none of its conviction. "I can't lose you again. And you..." She softened, taking a small step closer, his hands warm when they cupped the bend of her elbows and she fitted her fingers into the crook of his. "You refused to let me leave, when I thought it might've been me. How can I not do the same for you?" He swallowed hard. "How could I  _not_  do anything, for you?"

"Shiro, I..." Her throat tightened. How was she supposed to face this and remain resolute?

"Stay. Please."

She didn't meet his eyes, and focused on the black V of his paladin armour instead. "Alright," she breathed.

"Thank you." His exhale was soft and warm, ghosting across the furrow of her brow, and she was both relieved and disappointed when he let go of her and stepped away. He seemed to take a moment to compose himself, and his usual professional manner. "Princess, may I ask you something?"

The sudden change took her aback, but she blinked, and then nodded, schooling her expression into a more professional one that matched his own. "Of course, Shiro."

"Did Keith seem... off, to you? Today? Or, uh, since Ulaz..."

She thought back to the paladins after they had taken their most recent wormhole jump. Pidge, Lance, and Hunk were as jovial and joking with each other as they usually were. Clearly, their division from the rest of the team had also done them some good. But Keith's small smiles at their antics, or returned jabs at Lance, hadn't been there like usual either.

"He was rather quiet," she considered. "But he may have just been stressed, I would assume you would be a better judge of his character? You have known him longer."

"You could say that," he said dryly, and her eyebrows rose.

"I just did?"

Shiro sighed, a tad fondly. "Earthling expression, princess. I'll check on him in the morning, and we can all start making a game plan to deal with the Galra. I think it's time we take the fight to them. They've been chasing us from galaxy to galaxy. The last thing they expect is for us to come after them. I can even have Pidge rig up a Galra finder, if she hasn't started on one already."

"It sounds like a wise course of action," she said, giving him a small smile. She reached up to tuck a stray curl of white behind her ear, as she thought back to their brief disagreement on Olkarion. "Shiro, can we promise one another that this is the last fight we have over losing each other?"

He slowly returned her smile, his eyes soft. "We can do our best."

The bridge doors opened and Coran walked in, a spring in his step, even as they sprang apart. "The paladins have all been fed and readied for a good long nap," he reported, "and I think that you two would do well to follow in their footsteps." He gave them an even stare. " _Both_  of you. I'll watch the bridge. No discussion."

Shiro gave him a grateful smile, even as Allura tsked, displeased with being told what to do, but not willing to fight him, either. "Very well. We'll see you in the morning."

Their first night in the castle, the Paladins had been so tired they'd simply gone to whatever rooms were closest (although Lance had picked a fight with Keith, before Shiro had shut it down and assigned them rooms) in a hallway not far from where Allura's was. The paladin rooms were far plainer, Allura knew, not that she had ever stayed in any of them. They were meant to be guest rooms for short time visitors, and she had taken Shiro to his that first night, even when he had offered to stay up and help many times. It was only later on that Allura realized he likely hadn't gotten any sleep at all regardless, and she and Coran could have benefited from having the extra helping hand. That, and she could have gotten to know him sooner, but... With everything that had happened that day, she supposed Shiro wouldn't have been on her mind.

They walked to the fork in the hallways where their paths diverged, and turned to each other. "Kinda surprised Coran didn't kick us out earlier," Shiro said, and Allura let out a soft giggle despite herself. How was it he always managed to brighten her mood?

"Sometimes he feels like more of a nanny than an advisor," she added, and he chuckled. She smiled sweetly at him. "Goodnight, Shiro."

His eyes crinkled. "Goodnight, princess."

In the morning, they'd get answers, but at least for tonight they were safe, and it was with that content thought that Allura closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

::::

_"—it was bad enough when it was just you," Kolivan hissed through gritted teeth, "even if you were never supposed to discover—"_

_"So you planned on letting me live out my days as everything you were actually fighting against?" Thace said, keeping his voice even._

_"If that kept you alive, then yes! And now you've threatened to drag Orilla into this—"_

_"She was already involved, whether you like it or not, she's the one who saved my life when_ _—" Thace fell silent when Kolivan raised his hand, flat palmed and next to his own cheek, and Thace knew at first his brother thought the warning had worked_ _—there were certain things you just didn't do as a Galra, and typically questioning the chain of command or family hierarchy was one of them_ _—when a cough came from behind, and Thace saw their sister standing over his shoulder._

_"Were you going to tell me you planned to excuse me from our newfound family rebellion?"_

_Kolivan turned, his bulky shoulders blocking Thace's view of his sister, leaving just glimpses of his face. "You're both too young for this."_

_Thace heard Orilla scoff. "And you're not?"_

_"Just because I made this choice does not mean you both have too as well."_

_"We're family," Orilla said pointedly. "That means we don't leave. Ever."_

So why did she? The thought had tormented Thace too many times, as he worked his way through the archives, through all the sleepless nights that had led up to this. The new Paladins of Voltron had come from a planet called Terra. Ulaz had known a prisoner called Champion, and the paladins had come to central command. All these important events couldn't have been completely unrelated. It was bad enough they'd lost the base Ulaz had been stationed at, after he hadn't radioed in (or at least, that was how Kolivan had painted it, rather than the life of a young Galra solider, lost needlessly and—Thace clenched his fists) but now... there had to be someway Orilla was connected. He couldn't have lost his sister too.

Even if no one had heard from her in years. She couldn't be lost to the cosmos. She couldn't. She promised.

The doors opened behind him, and he fought not to appear as startled as he felt, one of Haggar's druids drifting into the room, robes trailing over the floor and making it look like they were floating. He resisted the urge to shudder. The sentries were cold and metallic, the other Galra around him bloodthirsty and ambitious, but it was the witch's disciples that truly made his stomach turn over with unease.

Thace was just glad he'd managed to delete and encrypt his search history before it was too late. Knowledge or death, he reminded himself, as he left the room as quick as he could. He was set to report to Commander Throk soon anyway; something about a search party for Commander Sendak? The Emperor's prized general had gone missing and he was none too pleased about it, so it would be better for everyone once he was found.

Wouldn't it be just cruel enough to fit, if they found Sendak before he found Orilla? Or worse still, with news of the Galra having come so close to Terra and finding some primitive scientists travelling through the work camp Thace had been stationed to oversee a feeb ago, if the Galra found her son before she did?

::::

Repairs on the castle continued well into the morning, and Coran wasn't surprised when he stumbled upon Number Five, asleep with her data pad in her lap and glasses askew with a code program running and plugged up to the paw of the Green Lion she was resting against. Thora's wife Wyrna had always been the same way, pushing herself further in making astronomical breakthroughs. Thora had shared many stories of Coran about his sister-in-law falling asleep at her work desk, and Thora carrying her to bed.

Seeing his sister again in Altea, and getting to say goodbye (although she didn't know it) hadn't made the sharp sting of losing her a second time ache any less, and he debated for a moment whether he should bother waking Pidge at all. Shiro and Allura had made their plans—oh those two, always conversing about anything but themselves it seemed like—but hadn't woken to put them into practice, yet. It couldn't hurt to get a head start, but at the same time, he knew his team was tired, and they'd have to be on alert when the Galra inevitably came bursting in yet again. What was the harm in letting them sleep for a few more vargas?

He was on his way out of the Green Lion's hangar when his ears twitched, and he heard Pidge yawn and stir behind him, still groggy with sleep. "Coran?"

He wheeled around, giving her a chipper grin. "Yes Number Five?"

"Is it time for breakfast yet?" she mumbled, blinking blearily behind her glasses.

"Almost, although we got some new foods from the Olkari I'm not quite classify as either breakfast or not, a little of  _nibiru_."

"Nibiru?" she repeated, pushing herself up and tucking her datapad under one arm. He knew she'd gone to the training deck to learn Altean the other day, as he'd been the one to turn the switch on from fighting to linguistics (he'd left it halfway at standard protocol). "I didn't get to see that one."

"Oh. It simply means a bit of both, or in between. Something or someone who doesn't belong either here or there, do you see?" Sometimes he wondered if he could fit that definition too. A man who'd been born in the past, watched the future go by, and woke up in the present without realizing a thing. If he'd ever fit in here, in a galaxy without everyone else he loved, without his family, without his king.

Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose. "Oh. Alteans have a word for that?"

"Alteans have a word for everything." He smiled softly at her. "We were constantly travelling, sleeping and waking at opposite or non-existent night cycles to our own, learning new languages, practicing our rituals and incorporating new ones, changing our bodies. Some Alteans chose to live out their lives as an entirely different alien form they felt suited them best. We welcomed the variations of existence the university could give us."

When her face didn't light up, the way it usually did when hearing him talk—alright, maybe not  _light up_ , but she usually looked at least interested (unlike Keith or Lance) rather than contemplative or... troubled? He bent down to her level. "Is everything alright, Pidge?"

She looked up quickly. "Y-yeah. Just... I think that term, nibiru, might fit me pretty well? I mean, I spent a lot of time pretending to be someone I wasn't, but then it became easy, and natural, and now, I can't—or don't?—really want to go back to exactly who I was before then, because that doesn't seem to fit quite right now either, but..."

"You're searching for answers," Coran realized.

She gave him a half smile. "It's weird. I'm used to having them, most of the time."

"Ah. Well, questioning is a very Altean thing for you to do, Pidge."

"What if I never stop?"

"Discovering who you are is one of the great joys of life," Coran said, "and if you're truly wise, or seek knowledge, then it will never really end. Even if you get answers to some things."

Pidge set her datapad aside, and Coran slowly took the seat next to her, as both of them stretched out their legs and she glanced over at him. "Are you searching for something?" she asked.

"I..."

He twisted his mustache. How many times had he asked themselves if he'd been right, back on Altea? The first time. Agreeing to help Alfor hide the Lions, not stopping him from putting Allura in the cryopod. The second time. Telling Allura there was no other way to get back home, if he'd been right, if he'd been wrong. If he'd doomed his sister to die or if he never would have made a difference, anyway.

"I suppose..." his throat tightened. "I suppose I'm looking for the one thing I can never find. Absolution."

"Huh." Pidge mulled over his words. When she was quiet, he knew she was always thinking hard about something. "I guess on earth, we'd call that God. Or destiny. Neither of which I believe in, but..." she shrugged. "As mad as I am that my family and Shiro were taken, if they hadn't, we'd never have known about the Galra, and we would have been sitting ducks back on Earth, completely caught unawares when they did come and completely unprepared."

"'Sitting ducks'?"

"Something Lance says. But either way, if everything had gone right back on Earth, things really would have been hopeless, in the end. At least this way, we have a chance. We can make a difference. And, we have hope. So I guess I do believe that maybe... all this happened for a reason. I know it's probably not the exact answer you were looking for, I mean, it is still just guess work at the end of the day, but—"

Coran hugged her. "Thank you Pidge."

She hesitated, and then hugged him back, ignoring the way his mustache tickled her cheek. It reminded her of the mustache her own father had had one year, when she was five. "You're welcome, Coran."

He pulled away, and then patted her on the head, winking. "And if you feel like nibiru fits you, I have some books that might help, now that you can read Altean."

She brightened. "Yeah. That'd be great. And, Coran?"

"Yes, Number Five?"

"Don't tell the others yet, but... would you use  _they_  and  _them_  pronouns for me, when it's just us? So I can practice hearing them?"

Coran smiled at them. "I would be happy to, Number Five."

::::

The rest of the team had amalgamated on the bridge, it being clear this was one of the mornings breakfast would be a 'get your own' type of situation. They did their best to have a solid routine and meal times, but it wasn't uncommon for there to be days they were too tired to cook for anyone but themselves, or a team member would miss a meal and eat later (having gotten distracted by their own tasks). Still, it was understood that by the time the team made it to the bridge in the mornings, it was expected for everyone to be there unless leeway had been given beforehand, so when Keith wasn't in his seat or walking in with the others, Shiro took notice.

"Where's Keith? " He asked, moving to his station. Everyone else, including Coran and Allura, were already at their stations. It wasn't like Keith to be late.

Coran did a quick scan of the castle and its video feeds. "It appears that one of the pods launched in the middle of the night."

"What?" Lance exclaimed. "Why?"

Shiro gritted his teeth. He'd known something had been bothering the kid. "I dunno," he said, "but we're about to find out. Coran, contact that pod."

No hologram or screen was available, but Shiro did hear faint static as the commlink crackled to life, and Coran said, "Keith, where are you?"

"Exactly where I should be: far away from the Castle."

"What?" Shiro struggled to maintain his temper, only slightly softened by the relief that Keith was alright and alive enough to answer. He thought Keith had gotten over stunts like this a long time ago. "Why?" he demanded, evenly.

"I think Zarkon might be tracking me, and if he is, this is how I can find out."

"Why would Zarkon be tracking you?" came Allura's voice, heavy with disbelief.

Keith paused. "I dunno. I think he may have imprinted on me when I fought him, or something—"

"The Galra do not  _imprint_ ," Allura said stonily, and Shiro sensed an argument between them, and stepped in. Besides for Keith and Lance, they were the pair that fought the most (even if the boys won by a very large margin).

"Keith, splitting up the team makes us far more vulnerable," he tried. It was a lesson he'd tried to teach him time and time again back on earth, but he'd thought once they'd came to space—when their survival literally depended on it—it would stick, but apparently not. He made his voice more stern. "Come back to the castle immediately."

Keith's voice was just as set, as he replied, "No," before turning his communications channel on mute, the soft sound signalling it echoing across their side of it, for a moment.

Coran typed across his holopad, and reported, "His pod is moving in the opposite direction. It appears he took the one Pidge modified, and the booster is working just fine."

Shiro muttered  _quiznak_  under his breath. "Pidge, you hacked that thing. Can you hack it again? Get access to his screens and see if he has an actual destination in mind?"

The green paladin stuck out her tongue, and started typing. "I can try, but it's pretty far out of range. It might take some time." "It seems it—oh no."

"What?" said Hunk nervously, poking his index fingers together.

"It seems he downloaded the coordinates from the hard drive Ulaz gave Shiro. He's heading to the base of the Blade of Mamora."

"We have to get him back!" said Lance.

Shiro was about to give the order to do just that—oh, Keith was going to be in for the scolding of a lifetime once he was back (could you ground someone in space?)—when a red symbol and alarm flashed across the castle's main screen. A standard distress warning. "Coran," he said, "where's it coming from?"

Coran typed furiously for a few seconds, and then a yellow planet on the cusp of crumbling overtook the red alarm. Hazy dark yellow clouds were laid over a putrid outer shell of a landscape, with over view shots of five main pillars elevating plateaus in the air above the smog.

"A dwarf planet called Taujeer. Most of the planet is made up of poisonous gases, and the Taujeerians live on the five plateaus, which are elevated and overlooking ten million squared feet, to be able to breathe and flourish. There's not much here beyond that, I'm afraid."

"But the Galra," Allura cut in. "They're there?"

"They must be," Coran considered, "or in some kind of danger, otherwise they wouldn't send the distress code."

"And a paladin of Voltron must answer every call for aid," Shiro said, trying not to sound too bitter, and as he looked back at Allura he already knew she knew what was on his mind. They'd save the Taujeerians and then go after Keith. "Allura, can you cut down our travel time and wormhole us a bit closer?"

Her voice wasn't as sharp as he would have expected—annoyance, at Keith perhaps—and instead far softer, far more sympathetic, as she said, "Of course, Shiro," and he knew they would handle whatever the repercussions of Keith running away were, together.

"Alright," he said, raising his voice and speaking to his team. "Let's get in there, see what's up, and get out once it's solved. We have a Red Paladin to track down."

::::

It seemed a simple solution was never in order. Shiro had broadcasted his quick meeting with the Taujeerian leader, Baujal, back to her, and it had led to little more than a shut down of the one option they had initially thought of. "Why can't we place the Ark-ship on the strongest pillar while we carry out the evacuation?" he'd asked.

"No pillar is stronger than the other," Baujal had explained. "All five are necessary for survival, for a thriving society. The Galra knew if they broke one we would be finished. We need you to restore the pillar they broke. Only that will buy us enough time to evacuate before the damage they've done to our planet."

Allura fought the urge to pace across the platform of her station, as she watched the four Lions fly to the damaged pillar while Coran directed the Castleship down towards the evacuees. The hazardous gases presented a danger, and the overwhelming heat felt even through the castle walls could have been tempered by the Red Lion, but of course, Keith wasn't here right now.

She gritted her teeth. Of all the irresponsible things and baseless excuses... the Galra did not imprint, and why would Keith believe that regardless? Had it really just been a ruse to run off to the Blade? And in a pod no less; why not take his Lion?She'd known he'd been eager after Ulaz's death, but surely she and Shiro had made him understand why they had to wait. Even if she'd nursed reasons they shouldn't go at all close to her chest, she hadn't told Shiro. Coran had understood, shared in her skepticism, but...

It felt like every time they made some real progress—saving the Balmera and then losing her father's A.I., her keeping Shiro safe only for him to be stupid and reckless and risk everything and—she clenched her fists and the ship nearly shuddered alongside her, until she steadied her raging mind. Why did they always have to take two steps back?

She forced herself to focus back on the task at hand. "Coran, are we cleared for landing?"

"At your signal, princess."

"Mega thrusters ago. Let's get as many Taujeerians on the ark as soon as we can." She fingers flickered up to her earring—did she check in with Shiro so soon, to see how the ground work was going?—but resisted from connecting her commlink to the team's. If there was an issue, he'd tell her. She could trust him with this. He was always the one who figured things out, even when she was falling apart.

::::

"Nice work Hunk," Shiro praised, clapping the Yellow Paladin heartily on the shoulder as they strode back inside the Castleship. Without the Yellow Lion's latest upgrade of a heavy shoulder canon, it'd been instrumental in allowing the broken pillar to be restored with some of the Taujeerian's own technology.

Hunk pulled off his helmet and tucked it under his arm, giving his leader a sheepish smile. "Yellow did all the work, but thanks."

"Still, it was a big moment, and we couldn't have saved the Taujeerians without you." Shiro smiled at him. "Thanks for having our backs in there."

"And now we can go save Keith's sorry a—" Pidge grumbled, as they entered the bridge.

"It would be in our best interests to wormhole as closely as possible to Keith's current location," Allura said, as they all flopped down in their seats. Shiro stayed next to her, pulling up a screen to show him. "I've had Coran keep a tracker on him all the while." She glanced at Shiro's face, now void of a smile and a creased brow. Her lips thinned. "We're going to get your brother back."

"I know."

Shiro just worried he wouldn't be the same.

::::

The base didn't look like a base. Keith had let the pod drift over here, thanking the stars or whatever was out there that Pidge's booster rocket had worked, ever since the team had hacked his communications to let him know he wasn't being tracked. For Shiro to ask him to come home. But couldn't his cousin understand? He was going home. Here, he could get answers about his mother. A grandparent. Anything. Answers to all the questions he had back on Earth.

But nothing on Earth, or in the Garrison when he'd actually attended class, could have prepared him for this. He'd thought Ulaz's base had been impressive, with its cloaking and a natural dense defensive system. But this... the blue sphere was constantly whirling, light bending and fractured between two black holes. A pocket of space time. No wonder the Blades had outlasted the Galra for this long, with technology like this. If Pidge was here, he knew what the green paladin would be asking.  _Who had developed this tech_ , glasses shining with exciting. And then Shiro or Allura, or maybe even Hunk's more worried tone, in the back of his head.  _What would happen if this fell into the wrong hands?_

And now that he knew Zarkon and the Galra weren't tracking him, he could get some answers, and make sure that never happened.

Zarkon had said he fought like a Galra soldier, so he would, as he let the ship approach the base. He'd get hailed soon enough. His blade seemed to hum at his hip, strapped to his holster. He didn't want victory. He needed answers.

Knowledge, or death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note: keith's mother in this fic, orilla, has a different name because i chose it before s5 came out, and as the two characters are going to be very different (personality, motivation wise, etc.) i think it suits them to remain separate. that is all.


	9. Knowledge or Death Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voltron goes to the Blade of Marmora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more of a transitionary chapter than anything else, but everything comes to a head in major ways next chapter, and this was already at a decent length, so... bear with me?

ARC II: The Traitor

CHAPTER NINE: Knowledge or Death, Part I

::::

 **"** Coran, How soon will we get to the Blade of Marmora's base?" Shiro asked. He was standing at his chair, glad the space was too small to be tempted to pace. Of all the stupid things Keith had done, this had to be in the top three.

"Based on the coordinates that Ulaz gave us, we should be there within a few doboshes," Coran reported.

"I can't wait to see it!" said Pidge. "I mean, they were able to fold space-time, and that was just at an outpost!"

"Coran," said Lance, leaning over the Altean's shoulder, having abandoned due to anxiousness, "where's the base located?"

Coran pointed across the charts with his index finger. "In between those three deadly celestial objects.

"The perfect defensive position," Pidge noted.

Allura didn't sound impressed. "Or the perfect trap."

"Yeah, I'm with Allura," said Hunk, sitting at his chair. "Maybe we should, uh, proceed cautiously?"

"We can certainly do a better job than Keith did," Lance muttered, and Shiro sighed.

"We don't even know if Keith has reached the Blade of Marmora yet," Shiro pointed out, "given that he was in a pod and it likely wasn't as able to travel as quickly as the castle, even with Pidge's modifications. The best thing we can do is see if he's there, and collect some intel before we have to go get him. The Blade may even freely hand him back over, as he has nothing that would be of real use to them and his Lion is here, but we should also be prepared for a fight. They've been fighting against Zarkon for thousands of years and still haven't won; we should expect some desperation at the very least."

The desperation of a futile fight was one Shiro had known quite well, a hollow ache in the arena.

"Open a hailing frequency," he commanded to Coran, after clearing his throat. A black background popped up on screen, including a purple and flatlining voice frequency recorder. "We are the Paladins of Voltron, sent here by Ulaz of the Blade of Marmora. Is the Red Paladin here?"

The purple line rose in waves alongside the female voice that echoed. "The Red Paladin has been taken taken into custody. No more than two other paladins may enter. Come unarmed."

"Custody?" Hunk puzzled. "So, Keith's a prisoner?"

"I don't know," Allura said. "But it wouldn't surprise me if the Blade are very wary of outsiders, given how they've seemingly survived all this time." She glanced at her co-leader, wishing she could see his face and gauge what was going through his head, hoping he'd look back at her. When he didn't, she continued, "Why would they insist we come unarmed? Shiro, this doesn't feel right."

"We don't have any other choices," said Shiro. "We're here and we know they have Keith. The Red Lion hasn't acted up, so he may not be in danger, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't go after him. Besides, they don't know I can use my arm as a weapon."

"They just sent us a route to the base," Coran notified them, "but we'll have to move quickly. Because of the solar flares, it's only open for another varga. Then, it will be closed for another sixteen. However, the course to the base will be quite treacherous, to say the least. You'll be walking a razor's edge between the gravitational pull of the black holes and the sun. One false move, and you'll either be crushed into infinity or burnt to a crisp."

They needed to make sure they had the right Lion for the job then, Shiro knew. The Red Lion was the obvious one, but out of commission with Keith gone (oh, he was gonna ground that kid for  _life_ ) and while Yellow could have withstood the heat, it was too slow. Blue and Green were small and fast enough, but didn't have the protection to last in such an intense environment. He knew Black could do it, and knew he was a talented enough pilot for it too. It was the simplest solution, and he was glad when no one contested it.

"Then we need to get the Black Lion ready to take the journey," Shiro said decidedly, as he stood up and the whole team drifted closer to the centre of the bridge alongside him.

"So," Lance said, puffing out his chest. Shiro wasn't surprised he wanted to be the one to help save Keith; god knows he'd lord it over the other boy for as long as possible. "Any thoughts on who's gonna join you on this little mission?"

"I appreciate the offer," Shiro said curtly, "but I'll be going alone. That way we can minimize the risk."

Allura gave him a stern look. "Absolutely not."

He looked at her in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Keith is already in custody, and you'll be bringing a Lion to them. We don't know how many Blade of Marmora there are at that base, and you cannot possibly fight them all." She raised her chin. "It's too dangerous. I'm going with you."

Shiro searched her face. Was she thinking of the last time they'd gone to a Galra base together? Did she think he couldn't handle it on his own? How much of the hardness in her eyes was backed by logic, and how much by emotion, and how much did he want each one to be? He shook himself straight. "No," he said shortly. If she could use logic to back her arguments, then so could he. "We need you here. If Zarkon shows up, he won't know I'm at the base, but he will see the Castleship. You should hang back so he doesn't immediately see the base, and if you need to wormhole away, you can. Whoever's back at the castle will be a sitting duck without you."

The princess scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. "This is no time for your strange earthling metaphors, Shiro. My point still stands that it is too dangerous for you to go alone, so if you will not let me accompany you, then at least let me pick who will."

Shiro raised his eyebrows. "Who is?"

Lance sidled up to her. "I'm flattered, princess. I mean, admittedly, I was thinking things might get a little hot, so you're gonna want someone who can stay cool, like—"

"Hunk," she said crisply.

Hunk said, " _Me_?" at the same time Lance said, " _Hunk_?" and quickly quieted, even if Shiro immediately knew why she had chosen the Yellow Paladin.

"You've been a well ordained diplomat to at least two alien peoples, both in dire situations. You're also well equipped for rescue missions, having successfully rescued me from Zarkon's central command and helping me fend off Haggar. You're also typically nonthreatening, while remaining a talented fighter," Allura rattled off simply.

Hunk's eyes darted nervously to where the base lay. "Are you sure? I mean, it is a base full of probably hostile Galra... we'll need Pidge here as a hacker to their systems, so maybe Lance should go instead."

Lance looked rather put out, pouting for a moment, before he seemed to force a grin and he clapped his friend on the back. "Nah, of course it should be you buddy!" he said jovially. "You'll knock it out of the park and get Keith home safe and sound, no problem. I'll stay here and keep the rest of us safe in the meantime."

Shiro tried not to let his irritation bleed through—he had wanted to leave five minutes ago, not argue—and swallowed it back, smiling and placing a hand on Hunk's shoulder. "I would be honoured if you'd accompany me. You got Shay, Allura, and myself out of Galra clutches, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Hunk brightened a bit. "I guess so. Alright, let's get this over with."

They moved to the door, when Allura said, "Be safe," and Shiro glanced back at her, their eyes meeting.

But because he couldn't promise _I will_ , all he said was, "You too."

::::

Keith sprang to his feet from inside his holding cell, when the outer doors to the hallway he was trapped in swooshed open with a low scraping sound. After hailing the Blade from the pod, he'd shown them his knife and they'd used a tractor beam to pull him into the base. He'd thought he'd get answers, or at least a decent welcome, but one named Antok had forced him to the ground and taken his blade immediately upon his entry, and another member named Regris (Keith couldn't be sure; their glowing purple masks and bulky shoulder padded uniforms made it hard to tell them apart) had taken him here.

He couldn't believe he'd left the team and let Shiro down for this. And now he was probably going to be tortured, or used as bait. Why had he ever thought that some Galra could be good, anyway? Or maybe he had just hoped it, hoped that he wouldn't be the exception, if he turned out to be Galra after all.

He recognized the first Blade striding towards—the Galra still had scuffs on his knuckles from slamming Keith against the ground—but not the second, who was wearing a different uniform. Was of a different ranking, judging by the way Antok let him lead the way?

"Are you finally going to listen to me?" Keith said sharply, and the unknown Galra exchanged a look with Antok, as though to say,  _Are you serious?_

Antok faced no such fazing. "The blade you brought with you. Who did you steal it from?"

"I didn't," Keith ground out. "I've had it all my life."

"Lies," said the second Galra, and his mask dissolved to reveal a pale purple face with red markings and fluffy ears. "If you had come here merely as a Paladin of Voltron, that would be bad enough, but to come here with the sacred blade of one of our fallen, and then to besmirch its name?"

"I didn't steal it. I've had it as long as I can remember. Somehow, one of your knives ended up with me on planet Earth. I didn't even know there were others like it until I saw Ulaz with one. You  _know_  who this blade belonged to. Tell me how it would have gotten to Earth. I have to know."

"Our organization is built on secrecy and trust, neither of which you have or deserve—much less knowledge of the identity of who owned the blade before you."

 **"** Where did it come from?" Keith tried again. His father had hardly ever spoken of his mother. There were no pictures of her. Shiro, who had been seven when Keith was born, had never mentioned anything either. And Keith hadn't thought anything too strange of it, until now. And now, he wouldn't—he couldn't back down. " _I have to know._ "

The second Galra studied him, as though it wasn't the answer he was expecting. "You seek knowledge? There is only one way to attain knowledge here."

"How? I'll do it!"

Antok now looked at the second Galra in surprise. "Kolivan, you can't possibly—"

But Kolivan raised his hand wordlessly, flat palmed, and Antok went silent. "The trials of Marmora. Should you survive, you may keep the blade and its secrets will be revealed."

Trials. The childish part of his brain thought of the simulation tests at the Garrison, easy to ace and the only thing keeping him around, beyond Shiro. What would happen to his team if he died. But Keith shrugged off the guilt. They'd find a new paladin if they needed to. Probably be better off without him; Shiro wouldn't have to worry anymore.

And besides, he didn't plan on dying today, and set his shoulders.

"I'll do it."

::::

To his credit, although he was nervous, Hunk did stay quiet as Shiro navigated them in the Black Lion through the asteroid field and Blade protective barriers. The blue sphere, hazy and swirling, that most of the base hid behind was constantly moving, and Shiro wondered how they could have built a structure to withstand such an ever constant force.

"Hunk," he said, and the teen snapped to attention, "do you think once we're inside the base, you could possibly reverse engineer it?"

"Um, maybe?" Hunk fidgeted by pressing his index fingers together. "My mom was always great at stuff like that, but it was never  _my_  specialty—why d'you need to know how the base works?"

Shiro's jaw tightened, but his voice remained calm. "So that if we need to, we can bring the thing down. If that's what it takes to get Keith and the two of us out of here alive."

Hunk's headband rose along with his eyebrows. "You're worried too?"

"Of course I'm worried. He's my little brother... and you're my friend. I want to make sure both of you get back as safe as possible." Shiro sighed, and then perked up as he glanced back at him. "After all, how else am I supposed to ground Keith for life?"

Hunk gave him a small smile, but it quickly faded when he pointed ahead. "Look."

The base looked almost too solitary yet fragile to be a spaceship that could withstand being suspended in gravity and time. It was made of a deep purple rock, with metal functions fastening and holding the whole thing together and attached to booster rockets and other jutting facilities, but overall it was a distinct and recognizable replication of the emblem on Ulaz's blade: a crooked and jagged flipped number five.

Hunk's eyes widened. "I don't think I can reverse engineer  _that_ ," he said, shocked into a spellbound softness, and Shiro could only gulp and nod in acknowledgement, before he guided the Black Lion forward anyway.

They swerved to avoid the last line of defences, and Shiro was glad when the cracks showing a hangar door glowed purple enough to be visible through the swirling blue storm clouds and electricity surrounding the base. The hangar opened, and he landed the Lion neatly. Now came the actual hard part. He wished Keith hadn't run off and the Blade didn't have an automatic bargaining chip. He wished he could take a moment to steel himself and take a deep breath, but couldn't without scaring Hunk. He wished he could comm Allura and make sure that her, the castle, and everyone was safe. He wished, as selfish was it was, that he'd let himself be foolish and let her come along with him.

Instead, he got none of those things, closed his eyes for only a moment because it was all he could do, and stepped out of the Lion's lowered maw with Hunk in tow. Two Galra were waiting for them a respectable amount of distance away. The smaller one in the sleeker uniform and a tail wore a mask like the one Ulaz had, but the other one was bare faced and stoic.

 **"** I am Kolivan," he said sternly, by way of introduction. "Leader of the Blade of Marmora."

Shiro had no such title. Calling himself the Black Paladin was his usual moniker—he was the leader of Voltron, maybe, but not  _in charge_  of it the way Allura was—but even that didn't feel quite right. He still couldn't quite shake the feeling of the Black Lion being torn from his fingers by Zarkon. Who knew what would happen when they met again? And being surrounded by Galran luminescent lights wasn't helping either.

"My name is Shiro," he said simply, "and this is Hunk. We are Paladins of Voltron."

Kolivan stayed unimpressed. "I know who you are."

"Then you know we were sent by one of your own, and are here to retrieve one of our own."

Kolivan's eyes hardened. "Ulaz was a fool to divulge this location to you. He had a penchant for ignoring orders and following his impulses. That's what got him killed. Your Red Paladin seems to have a similar problem."

Shiro's anger turned white hot, burning his throat. "He gave his life to save us! What he did brought us here today, and Voltron is ready to assist you once we get our teammate back. Are we welcome here or not?"

"You have nerve for coming here claiming to be allies, when your Red Paladin stole one of our blades, and you have allied yourself with the Princess of Altea."

Shiro took a step forward, gritting his teeth. "And what problem do you have exactly, with Princess Allura?"

"If you do not have one, then clearly you do not know what her family has been responsible for since Voltron's conception, and it is not worth telling you."

"Uh, Mr Kolivan, sir," said Hunk uneasily, "not that this isn't all great and your base isn't..." He glanced around at the somber grey walls and purple lights. "Lovely, but where is Keith, our Red Paladin, right now?"

Kolivan turned his golden eyes slowly onto Hunk. "He is undergoing the Trials as we speak."

"Trials? Like, legal stuff?"

Kolivan looked doubly unimpressed, and Hunk shrank back. "He claims the blade he carries is his. The only way to know for certain is to see if he survives the Trials of Marmora."

"Well call them off," Shiro said tersely. "He's coming home with us."

"That is not how the Trials of Marmora work. All we can do is watch." Kolivan scowled. "I suppose you want to be taken to him?'

"Yes," said Shiro evenly. "We do."

"Follow me, then."


	10. Knowledge or Death (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shit hits the fan. that's all, basically. plus, some family drama

ARC II: The Traitor

CHAPTER TEN: Knowledge or Death, Part II

::::

"How goes the Trials?"

Regris turned towards his leader, as Kolivan stepped onto the observation deck, followed by the Black and Yellow Paladins, with Antok bringing up the rear. Even with his comrade's mask on, he could only imagine the scowling expression on the latter's face. He was always uneasy when it came to putting newbies through the Trials, whether he thought they'd live or not. He didn't trust outsiders. And after what had happened with Orilla Maala, Antok couldn't blame him.

"The boy has yet to figure out that if he kills one android, it makes two appear," Regris said dryly, turning his gaze back to the window that showed the deck they'd set aside for the Trials down below.

The Black Paladin looked down, frowning, as the boy hurled the knife into the chest of one android, and panels in the walls on either side of him opened up to allow two more into the arena. Six already lay dead at his feet. "How long does this go on for?"

"As long as it takes for him to see the pattern, and figure out how to change it," said Kolivan, from his place beside Antok, with Regris on the end.

The Black Paladin gave him a sharp look. "And if he doesn't?"

"Knowledge or death, Shiro."

"That's insane," he muttered.

"That," said Antok, "is war. Judging by your story, I would have thought you would be more well acquainted with it."

"What do you mean,  _my story_?"

"You are the one they called Champion in the arenas, are you not?" said Kolivan. "The one Ulaz foolishly freed on a child's hope."

Shiro glared at him. "He—"

"Did you ever think of what mission he sacrificed to do so? Of who he was actually sent to free? And yet he threw away his intel and the mission I tasked him with to free you, for a weapon that paved the way for the ten thousand years of suffering we find ourselves on the tail end of now. You should not be standing here, Takashi Shirogane." Kolivan jerked his head towards the window, where the boy still fought on. "And neither should he."

"He'll never quit," Shiro said.

"Then it is up to him to decide whether will be his greatest strength, or his downfall." Kolivan gave him a hard stare. "But regardless, you are only a witness to the Trials. The moment they begin, the participant is on their own. That is the Marmora way. We stand alone against the empire."

"Maybe you don't have to be alone," the Yellow Paladin suggested, raising his hand seemingly for approval of some sort, and Shiro appeared to internally want to facepalm. "I mean, you're all working together, so you're not alone-alone, are you? And now with Voltron, you can have more allies, and—"

Regris scoffed, but Kolivan answered, his voice clipped.

"Every individual Blade member has made the choice to lay their lives down for the cause. It is a choice we do not force. One we do not even encourage. Our members do not marry. They do not have children. They live their life solely for the cause. Anything less is dangerous. We live our lives alone, to be prepared for dying alone. Allies you may be, you still have yet to prove. But tell me: have the Paladins of Voltron come to make the same sacrifice? Because if not, you might as well leave now."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's been ten thousand years and you've barely made a dent in the empire," Hunk pressed. "It's been ten thousand years. This 'we work alone' thing hasn't worked. Maybe try switching it up a bit?" He quieted under Kolivan's fierce glare, but Shiro shot the paladin a quick smile.

"Nice try, Hunk." The smile didn't reach his grey eyes however, and went back to worriedly watching the boy.

Regris found no such concern. He'd seen people die in the Trials, and seen them succeed. He'd lost more friends and comrades than he could keep track of. Probably more than he even knew, at this very moment, who had already died; who would never report back at their scheduled check in point. And when he glanced at Antok, he knew he felt the same. Almost as well as Kolivan did.

Knowledge, or death.

::::

Alright. This wasn't working.

Keith rolled to doge the blow of the nearest android, faceless and purple, and fearsome just like the one that had gone rogue on him when the Castleship's crystal had been corrupted. Except this time there was no air lock to get him out of a sticky situation, no Lance to rescue, no paladins to go to. Just him and his blade and his grit, and the hollow sentries at his feet. Keith drove his knife into the nearest one as it reared its gun at him, ducking the blow of another's sword as the doors on either side of the arena opened and two more dropped in.  _Dammit_. There had to be a better way to do this, before he was completely surrounded.

Okay. Killing one only brought two more. So if he couldn't kill them, he'd have to shut them down. He cursed under his breath. Tech stuff was Pidge and Hunk's specialty, not his. Still, there had to be a control panel around here, or something. Or an exit? But there were no other doors other than the panels more than halfway up the wall, far beyond reach.

No other doors...

It was like someone had turned the ignition key in his brain. If he could maneuver a hover bike back on Earth and survive a jump off a cliff, he could handle this. Keith swung himself under the arm of the nearest bot, threw his blade into another's chest and wrenched it out, shoved the next one to come at him, and started leading them into a line. He wove in and out, their motions fluid but still constrained by jerky, metallic joints, as he kicked and stabbed them down, until he shoved one into a collection of others and launched himself into the air as the panels above him opened to drop down more.

His blade pinned their foot and he hoisted himself up, the heavy robot lying on top of him. He shoved it upwards, his blade embedded in its chest, to keep the door from closing, and wiggled the rest of his body into the flat, cold shaft. His feet slipped inside at the last minute before the door clanged close, cleaving the helpless android in half.

Keith pressed his forehead to the cold metal shaft he was lying on, his chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath. The purple suit the Blades had given him to wear for the Trials stick to his skin, as he slowly hauled himself onto his knees, his knife cleft in one hand, and began to crawl. There had to be another exit, to another landing. A new challenge.

One Trial down, two to go.

::::

Allura was getting tired of looking at the endless swirling blue of the base. It shifted every few seconds from beyond the planet the Castleship had tucked itself behind a small wormhole away, and it would have made her dizzy if her gaze and stance weren't so steady; you couldn't steer a giant castleship standing up without a hell of a good balance. Still, it was infuriating seeing the base changing, and hearing nothing along their communications channel. No word from Shiro, or the Blade, or otherwise. What was going on down there? It seemed agonizing to have to wait another twelve vargas.

Vaguely, she could hear Pidge typing behind her and Coran in front, and Lance had moved from his chair to walk around the deck and stretch his legs. Shiro's chair remained empty, and she felt a rush of anger when she caught a glimpse of Keith's chair in the corner of her eye. How dare he run off like this, and put them all at risk. Put  _Shiro_  at—

"We cannot just wait here," she burst finally, drawing up her holoscreens. There had to be  _something_  she could do.

"The path is still closed," came Coran's voice, as he turned around to look at her.

"I have to know what's going on down there. Who knows how long Keith has already been there, and what the Blade has been doing to all of them."

"If they were in danger, their Lions would act up," Lance pointed out. "But Yellow and Red are still here."

"I... The Lions did not come to help any of us at Zarkon's central command, and we were far closer then. The Black Lion even  _ejected_  Shiro when he needed her the most. If certain things can override a Lion's connection to their paladin, then who's to say that the Marmora's base isn't doing something?" Allura cleared her throat. "Besides, in the past, the Paladins and their Lions were hardly ever far from one another. As only one person could pilot a Lion at a time, it didn't make sense to have them be separated. Perhaps this distance, with all of the other extenuating circumstances, are simply too much."

"Even if we wanted to, there's no way to get a read on their base," Pidge said, slumping over in her seat. "Too much interference from the solar flares and the black holes."

Lance snapped his fingers. "Wait, hadn't Hunk said something about gravitational lensing being an issue? We had a paper on it at the Garrison. I mostly copied from his."

"And then we can reduce the noise," Coran continued excitedly, "and interference and connect with the Red Lion's sensors." He glanced over at Pidge. "Isn't that right, Number Five?"

Pidge shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

Allura looked back at Shiro's empty chair. "Do it."

"There's just one small catch," Coran said. "In order to do so we have to re-route power and manually turn on off our gravitational lensing to keep it from jamming our systems too. The controls are down near the minor mainframe, and since Pidge and I will be here getting things set up, it looks like it's up to you and Lance. He knows some of Hunk's technical knowledge, don't he?"

"I, uh," Lance scratched the back of his neck. "I guess?"

"Excellent. Princess, I trust you two are up to the job?"

Allura's jaw tightened. "Of course, Coran. Come along, Lance. Let's get this done as quickly as possible."

The minor mainframe was located a level below the main power crystal of the castle, and Lance had to jog to keep up with her. Finding the plugs and small crystals for the gravitational lensing was easy enough, once she ripped off the metal panel barring them from the three crystals they had to remove, and the four plugs they had to take out and then put back in. She got the crystals out, and Lance did the plugs.

_Gravitational Lensing, powering down: 1%[_]4%[_]_

"Looks like we're going to be here for a while," Lance remarked, and her patience snapped.

"Lance, I swear to the Ancients if you flirt with me right now I will throw you to a howling snargle-viper—"

"Whoa, hey!" He held up his hands. "I'm not flirting, just making an observation. What's got your circlet in a twist? I mean, I know it sucks that Keith ran off, and we're all worried about him, but Hunk's great in a sticky situation, and Shiro's not going to let anything happen to either of them, and..." He watched her swallow hard. "It's not Keith or Hunk that you're worried about, is it?"

"Shiro was already Zarkon's prisoner once, and then nearly captured alongside me in the transport ship. Haggar would have taken him if Hunk and I hadn't gotten there in time. And then, with him trusting the Galra when they still may be using him, with Zarkon being able to connect to the Black Lion, I—it's not that I doubt him, I don't—I never have. But I cannot help that worry that this time, I may not be there to protect him."

Lance gave her a small smile. "Princess, can I tell you something?"

She blinked. "Er, of course, Lance?"

"You don't know much about Shiro's life back on Earth, do you?"

"I... know some things." Shiro's father died when he was three. His mother and grandmother raised him. Keith was his cousin. He'd always loved space and had dreamt of the stars ever since he was a child. He had a hamster, a small furry Earthling animal like the mice, when he was twelve. "Why?"

"Back on Earth, Shiro was my hero, the best astronaut out there. Heck, he still is. But that doesn't mean he's infallible, and that doesn't mean he needs to be, right? I mean, yeah, Shiro's gone through a lot, and he's been knocked down a ton, but he always gets up, right?"

"I—yes, I suppose he does."

"Then I think he'll be fine, no matter how the Blade or the Galra try to knock him down. Besides, even if something did happen, all we'd have to do is make him think you're in danger, and he'll give it his 110%." Lance's smile grew. "It's okay to be worried about him. He was worried about you too. But at least right now he has Hunk and Keith to help him fight, and Ulaz was a pretty good guy, so the rest of the Blade probably is too, right?"

Allura held Lance's gaze for a moment, and then sighed, and slowly smiled. "Thank you, Lance. Speaking with you has actually made me feel better."

He grinned at her. "You're welcome, princess." They glanced at the screen, which still had 50% of the way to go, before took a step towards her. "So, about that flirting thing, is it okay in other situations or—"

"No," she said flatly.

Lance stepped back. "Right, what I figured. No problem."

::::

Keith grit his teeth as he finally caught a ray of light across the shaft's floor, the grate that would get him out of here somewhere up ahead. All of a sudden he was ten years old again crawling under the porch with sand at his belly instead of cool metal through his skin tight suit, his father coaching him through, his father's kind eyes and the sun greeting him on the other side. But there would be nothing but more hardship ahead, he knew. He twisted around uncomfortably to place his feet first, wiggling down and then slamming his feet onto the grate. It groaned, but didn't break.

Eleven years old, his father pounding on the door, smoke rising outside his window; he'd locked his door after their fight and now it was jammed. It was getting harder to breathe.

Keith kicked against the grate the second time. Eight years old at the first and only ocean he'd ever see, his dad carrying him on broad, fireman shoulders to avoid getting a mouthful of sea water _._ A third, as he willed the memories away. Why was he thinking of them at a time like this, anyway?

"Come on, come  _on_ —"

The grate gave way, and Keith had never been afraid of falling. The first time he'd crashed his hoverbike after trying to go off the cliff. From his bunk at the garrison, before he'd gotten good at sneaking out of his room silently. From the tree in front of his house where faded initials were carved into the bark. The only remnant of his mother besides his blade.

His blade. Keith hit the ground rolling, and straightened up, clutching the hilt in his hand. He didn't know what this new Trial would be, but he hoped it wouldn't take as long for him to figure out as the last one had, as his brain caught up his surroundings. A maze like the one back from the castle's simulator rose up around him, only real and made of stone, the walls a good triple his height.

Climbing had worked well last time. If he could get on top of the maze walls, he could see the more general outline, find the next exit that way. Keith wedged his blade into the closest panel, forcing it open enough, and then hoisted himself up, feet scrabbing at the wall until he managed to lift one leg and fit his foot onto the knife handle as a foothold. He jumped once he had both feet on it, his balance wobbling, and he jumped, his fingertips grazing the top of the maze. Just a little further, and he could enact the rest of his plan.

The maze suddenly tilted on its axis, the edge of the wall he was holding onto turning onto spikes, and he let go with a yelp, stumbling backwards into the opposite wall. The maze slowly righted itself, the spikes closing in on themselves. Alright, so that wasn't an option. What now?

He stared back at how his blade was still wedged in the wall. If he couldn't go over, then maybe he could go in?

::::

"Is it safe for him to be in the walls?" Shiro said worriedly from the observation deck. He couldn't shake the mental image of the walls tightening and crushing Keith between them.

Regris remarked, frowning, "It's safer than going underground."

"I doubt he will make it past the last Trial," said Antok, glancing at Kolivan, who remained stern faced.

"Which is...?" Hunk asked.

Kolivan stepped away from the window pane, his hands clasped behind his back, leaving the elongated blade at his hip in full display. "Me."

"What?" Shiro's head whipped around to face him. "You can't be serious."

"The boy does not have to win," Kolivan said shortly, shooting him a sneer. "Merely survive the duel until a certain recorded time of five doboshes. How else can we expect one to join our rankings?"

"He doesn't want to join your rankings, he just wants to know where his blade came from," Shiro said fiercely.

"He agreed to go through the Trials. That means  _all_  of them, regardless with what he chooses to do afterwards, should he survive."

"And if he doesn't last in the duel?"

Kolivan hesitated, for a moment. "I shall promise him a quick death."

_"Takashi, say hello."_

_The baby in blankets is squirming, with a pink squishy face and a tuft of dark hair. Shiro is eight years old and his mother's hand is a warm weight on his shoulder. His mother's brother stands on the side of the bed, holding the baby in his arms. Keith is tiny and four months old, living in Arizona with his father. Shiro knows better than to ask where Keith's mother is, like how he wishes the kids at school would know better than to ask where his father is, too._

_Instead, he gives his new cousin a little wave. "Hello." His mother squeezes his shoulder._

_Uncle Akira holds Keith out to his sister. "Would you like to hold him, Gina?"_

_Shiro's mother takes the baby into her arms, cradling him with ease. "Mum's already seen him, I suppose?" she asks, referring to_ obasaan _, Shiro's, and now Keith's, grandmother._

_Uncle Akira grins. "Came by a month after the birth."_

_Shiro peers over the crook of her elbow. "It's my job to protect him, isn't it mama? Like how dad protected the whole world and me and you."_

_Gina ruffles his hair, tears welling in her eyes. "Well yes, I suppose it is. Keith is Uncle Akira's whole world now, and we're all going to take very good care of him, aren't we?"_

Yes, he would.

"Like hell you are," Shiro growled, slinging out his arm as his prosthetic glowed purple, crackling with energy and fury behind his eyes.

The three Blades leapt back, Antok narrowing his eyes. "So you did break your word. I knew we could never trust a Paladin of Voltron.

"Regris and Antok, keep the Paladins contained," Kolivan ordered. "The boy should be exiting the maze walls any moment now. I will meet him for the last Trial."

"No—" Shiro stepped after him, but he swept through the doors and Antok and Regris stepped in front, blades drawn. He glanced back at Hunk, scowling.

He needed help. His family needed help. But Hunk didn't have a weapon, and Keith was still in a liability zone, and Allura and the rest of the castleship was trapped outside for who knew how many more vargas. But there was still someone here who could help, if she'd listen.

He closed his eyes, and untethered his mind.

_Please, Black._

::::

After a few more bangs and stumbling around in the dark, the stuffy air getting harder and harder to breathe, Keith carved out another hole in the metal walls and fell out onto a new training deck, gasping for air. It was only when he staggered to his feet, his lungs heaving, that he saw Kolivan standing on the other side of a circular ring carved onto the floor, straight backed and proud. They were standing in a fighting ring, and Keith straightened up as Kolivan drew his blade and levelled it at Keith, a good ten feet away from him, before striking it to the side in an angular motion to his side.

"Knowledge," said Kolivan. "Or death."

Keith charged first. Blade swinging, Kolivan batted it out of the way as though his first strike was nothing, and Keith regretted the shorter stretch of his knife as compared to Kolivan's blade. Was that what his was supposed to be like? Or would it only activate by whoever it had previously belonged to? His mother? Kolivan sliced his blade upwards, and Keith reeled backwards, a thin cut over his elbow. Was his deadbeat mother worth dying for? Or maybe she wasn't a deadbeat. Maybe she was Galra. Maybe she had to leave even though she didn't want to. Maybe she had wanted him, after all.

"Shiro was right," Kolivan said with venom. "You never know when to quit."

Keith readjusted his grip on his knife as they circled each other, ready to parry or strike depending on the opportunity. "Isn't your whole slogan based on not quitting? On extremes? You can't expect me to quit when that would mean death."

Kolivan brought his blade down in quick strikes, and Keith barely blocked or dodged each successive blow, barreling backwards when Kolivan brought up his other arm and punched him hard in the stomach. All the air whooshed out of him, his blade clattering out of his hand, and Keith gritted his teeth as he struggled to get up, and Kolivan stalked towards him. If he could just land a hit...

"Then you misunderstand us too. Knowledge must be transmitted, transferred. You cannot do that when you're dead. If you must leave your team behind to get information out, then that is the sacrifice." Kolivan's jaw clenched, as Keith managed to grab his knife and raise it above as Kolivan brought his blade down on it, and Keith's arms bent, shaking in the struggle in keeping a larger opponent at bay.

With a growl, Kolivan removed his knife, and brought it down again and again on Keith's as he berated him. "But clearly you do not know what it means to be part of a team. You ran here, and they had to come chasing after you. You ran here not knowing anything. It would have been within my right to kill you for that crime alone."

Keith thrust his blade upwards, forcing Kolivan back, and sprang to his feet. "Then why didn't you?" he demanded. "If you hate me that much?" Panting, he lowered his blade slightly. "Look, I don't know how this Blade got to me. I don't know who it belonged to. But I'm sorry, alright? I know what it's like to lose people you care about. But that doesn't make it my fault that whoever had this Blade isn't around anymore."

Kolivan's face contorted, but then grew more composed as he stalked forwards, snarling, " _Knowledge_ , or death," as though that was supposed to mean something different to Keith than it had every time before.

_You cannot do that when you're dead. If you must leave... You never know when to quit._

Eleven years old, Keith watching his house burn against the night sky, begging his father not to go back in—to live and fight another day—only for him to run in—what could be so important?—and the purple blade cascading out of the upstairs window. By the time a neighbour called the firefighters, his father was gone. His father had died for this blade. Had his mother too? Did he want to follow in their footsteps?

"I just want to know who I am," he ground out, shutting his eyes, and light flashed against the backs of them. When he opened them, Kolivan was walking through the doors, and Shiro was running towards him. Keith's eyes widened. "Shiro? What are you doing here? Is—is the fight over?"

"I came here to rescue you," said Shiro, steadying him with a hand on his shoulder. "I made a bargain with the Blade. Just give up your knife, and we can go home."

"I can't give it to them, Shiro."

"Why?" Shiro said sternly. "What's so important about that thing?"

"It's all I have left of my parents. I might have a chance to find my mom—"

"Your mother didn't want you, Keith," Shiro snapped. "Now come back and—"

Keith shoved him backwards. "You never even met her! You don't get to decide she's worth giving up on, when you left me too!" Tears sparked in his eyes. His body ached almost as badly as his heart. He was so tired. "You left me, you went to Kerberos! And then you  _died_!  _You were all I had and you left me!_ "

"Yes, and I'm sorry for it," said Shiro tersely, glancing at the exits. "But just give you the knife, and I can get you into a cryopod back to the castleship, I've already radioed the others—"

"The others? Is everyone okay?"

Shiro looked even more annoyed. "Yes, everyone is fine, so just stop being difficult and—"

But Keith pushed him away again, stumbling back. "You're not Shiro." Because Shiro would never looked annoyed when telling him that their team was safe. He'd always say  _Allura_   _and the others_. He always set her apart. And he'd never ever look at him sternly when he was crying.

The hologram vanished in a flash, and Keith wanted to yell when he saw his father standing there instead. His black hair and kind eyes were exactly how Keith remembered. How dare the Blade sift through his memories and play with him like this? He took his knife and slashed at the second hologram, which fizzled out and he looked down at his reflection. His eyes were wild, hair matted with sweat, as he panted and tried to force his heart back into his chest instead of having it stuck in his throat.

Was this really all he was meant for?

Then he felt a tug in his gut, a fire licking at his veins, so strong it could have made him retch if it hadn't been strangely comforting and quieting the rage in his soul. His parents and Shiro couldn't back for him, not now. But maybe someone still could.

Someone who had been waiting for him as long as he'd been waiting for her.

_Hello, Red._

::::

"The Red Lion is moving."

Allura's voice spiked with panic—if the Red Lion was on the move, that meant Keith was in danger, and if Keith was in danger, that meant the Shiro and Hunk were too—when Lance said, "We got bigger problems. Look!"

She raised her hands from her screens, her head whipping around the bridge, her remaining team in their chairs, and her stomach sank when she saw Galra ships entering the atmosphere. How had they been tracked this time? "Paladins, to your Lions—Coran, get the Red Lion's hangar door open,  _now_. I'm going to try and get through and the warn the base."

She typed furiously as Coran, Lance, and Pidge dashed to fulfill their duties, and she grit her teeth. This was exactly why she hadn't wanted Hunk to go with Shiro; now they were down three Lions and three Paladins, and—

"Come on— _come on_ —Paladins?" Breath crackled across the commlink, a grunt—someone was fighting? "Shiro?"

"—llura? Allura!" Shiro's voice broke over the commlink, relieved even if his breath seemed stifled, and she could have cried.

"Shiro, the Galra have found us! You need to get out of there as soon as you can—"

"Keith is still going through the Trials, Hunk and I are trying to get to him but—" There was a slam and a cheer from Shiro. Hunk had taken one of the Blades down, perhaps? "We're on our way," he promised. "I've reached out to the Black Lion, but she hasn't responded. What's happening on your end?"

"The Red Lion is on its way to Keith. Get to the Black Lion as fast as you can. If Zarkon is travelling with the fleet, you will have him to contend with."

"Alright." She could picture him motioning to Hunk for them to go trough the door, and then they'd be moving throughout the base. Who knew if the signal would hold, as they drifted away or closer towards the communications channel she had managed to access. And he seemed to know it too, as he said, "Allura?" a trace of hesitance in his voice.

"Yes Shiro?"

"Stay safe. We'll see you on the other side."

She smiled faintly to herself. "You too. I'll have a wormhole at the ready."

Shiro seemed to linger a moment, his breath paused, as though he wanted to say something else, and then thought better of it and said to Hunk, rather roughly, "Let's go. We have no time to lose," and she lost the connection after that. For now, all she could do was wait and hope her boys managed to warn the Blade in time so that no harm would be done.

If it wasn't too late.

::::

When his blade flashed light again, Keith found Kolivan staring back at him, unimpressed, in the same spot he'd been before the first flash. A new rush of fury hit him, as Keith realized it'd all been in his head: another mind trick, just like the memories. Still, this time Keith didn't charge him, and fixed him with a fierce glare instead.

"How dare you," he demanded. "What sort of sick organization is this, to mess with your members heads, to use their minds against him?"

Kolivan merely blinked, his face set in a heavy scowl. "It is nothing the Empire won't do. You need to be prepared."

"For what? You're still going to kill me, aren't you? I didn't pass your stupid Trials."

"You passed them," said Kolivan tightly, as though the admittance caused him physical pain. "But you did not awaken your Blade. If you want to leave the base, you must leave it here. Your friends have come to take you back."

They had come back for him? Guilt curdled unexpectedly in his stomach. He'd known Shiro would be worried, but... the others had come too? Shiro had wanted allies, and instead Keith knew he'd been used as a bargaining chip. Allura would be ticked, too, which meant Shiro would be ticked, on hers and his own behalf. Keith knew he'd never hear the end of it from Lance, either. Just how much had he ruined things by running away?

He looked back at his blade, still clutched in one hand. It had never felt heavier.

And then he held it out to Kolivan.

"As a peace offering," he said, as evenly and calmly as he could. "We all need to work together to defeat Zarkon. If that means I give up this knife, fine. Take it."

His blade glowed, and for a second the light was blinding, until it extended, steeping into a broader and sharper curve, and he blinked in surprise. Kolivan's jaw went slack in shock. "It can't be..." His wide eyes met Keith's. "Galra blood does flow through your veins."

Keith was trying to figure out how to respond to that—was his mother Galra? A grandparent? How far back did it go, and how much did it matter?—to Kolivan's guarded expression, as though he wasn't sure what to make of things either, and then a few things happened all at once.

First: the metal dome of the deck split open from the ceiling, distilled starlight pouring in, and the talons of the Red Lion's claws and gleam of her yellow eyes. Too late she may have been, but Keith still understood his Lion had responded to his distress. She'd come back for him, too.

Second: the doors at the end of the ring opened, and Antok came running through, one of his shoulder pads dented. "The paladins escaped," he panted, as Kolivan rushed to him, checking for an injury. "Regris is still out cold—the big yellow one got him—but we have bigger problems. The paladins have let Zarkon track them to our base."

Kolivan's eyes flashed. "What?"

"I've ordered the evacuations, I went to comm you but our channels were blocked by some outside signal—I think it was coming from the princess' castle."

He whirled around towards Keith. "You sabotaged us." He moved faster than seemed possible, and lifted Keith up by his neck, his weapon poised and Keith's having fallen on the ground. "I ought to kill you right now—"

Keith prepared himself for the blow, for the sword sliding into his stomach, as the Red Lion struggled to get through the small hole in the ceiling, rumbling in distress. But the blow never came. Cautiously, Keith eyes opened. Kolivan was staring at him, an undefinable expression on his face, and then his grip slackened. He was going to drop him. He was going to let him go.

The doors swished open again, and a blast hit Kolivan in the back and he crumpled. Hunk rose up behind him at the door, followed by Shiro, a gun held in the former's hands, and Keith spied the knob that set it to stun, as he picked himself up from the floor. Shiro kept his arm ablaze and at Antok, who seemed unsure of what to do, injured and a leader down with the alarms finally going off around the base, flashing red and blaring.

Keith let himself sag as Shiro and Hunk picked himself up on the floor. "'M sorry—"

But Shiro ignored him, looking at Antok. "You all need to get out of here. The Galra and Zarkon are here. We'll do our best to give you cover fire, while you evacuate."

Antok glowered at him, but nodded. "Do not think that we will forget this slight," he snarled, and then draped Kolivan's hulking arm around his shoulders and helped him to his feet as they staggered out the exit.

The ceiling split open as the Red Lion finally finished clawing her way through, and Keith raised his head weakly. "Thanks for coming to get me girl. Good kitty."

Shiro made sure Hunk had a good grip on Keith. "Both of you, get back to the Castleship and help defend whoever needs it the most. The princess will tell you what to do. I'm going to go get the Black Lion; I'll be right out behind you."

Keith struggled against Hunk's grasp. "Shiro, wait!"

But Hunk forced him up the open maw of the Red Lion anyway, and sealed them into safety, as Shiro disappeared behind the same door Kolivan and Antok had gone through.

 _No._  Keith's fingers curled into fists, against the floor of his Lion when Hunk set him down in the cockpit.  _Don't leave me again._

::::

The base was falling to pieces. Chunks of stone and metal lay scattered along the hallways, lights broken and alarms blaring, sparks from shattered bulbs fizzing across the corridors as Shiro sprinted down them. It was hard to tell whether the base had been attacked, or if it had gone into some sort of self-destructive protocol, but either way, there wasn't much time left to get out.

Shiro skidded down one hallway, a piece of the hallway peeling off and nearly hitting him as it blocked off the rest of his pathway.

"Quiznak."

He'd have to find another route. He back-pedalled to the previous intersection, going left where he had gone right, and a sign in Galran pointed down the hallway. He couldn't read the characters, but the symbol was distinctive enough now that he took the time to look at it, a ship over a straight line: the hangar. He was almost to his Lion.

And then he saw the Blade member lying crumpled on the ground the next hallway over. Shiro stopped, looking at the open doors ahead of him, and then at the girl. She was smaller than the other Blades, slimmer. Younger? He turned her over and her mask fell away, a soft exhalation escaping her lips. So she was alive. Her face, a pale purple with white brows struck him as familiar, but he couldn't place why.

The building shook, and it jarred him back to reality. The hangar was there, but if the base had gone into self-destructive protocol, it would inevitably be destroyed. Who knew how long they'd stay open? Still, he couldn't leave her. He'd bring her along in the Black Lion. Maybe she'd know how to communicate with the Blade and get them back in touch, if only so she could go home, even if it wouldn't help mend their burned bridges and build an alliance.

Shiro hoisted her arm over his shoulder, glad her dead weight wasn't too much, and moved to the hangar quickly as possible. He made his way over to the Black Lion, waiting for the gleam of her eyes, for her to open her mouth and let them in, but it wasn't coming. Debris fell from the ceiling. Everything was shaking.

"Black, please!" He banged a fist against her nose. "I don't know what I did to lose you, I don't know what Zarkon did to you, but I need you—"

Hadn't he been just as reckless as Keith, going after him with barely a game plan? Without knowing how they were being tracked? It was his mistake at Zarkon's central command. Except no, that couldn't be a mistake, because they had saved Allura—and lost everything else. Each other, the Black Lion. Her saving him on the rock planet had been a fluke. No. That couldn't be right, either.

Shiro splayed his fingers over her nose, tears sparking in his eyes. "No. I'm not giving up on you."

The Lion roared, and enveloped them as the base exploded.


End file.
